COLUMBIA, S.C. — September in the Midlands brought plenty of hot and humid weather along with many dry and sunny days. However, despite the many dry days we have had, the Midlands have received more rainfall than normal for the month September.
In addition, the Midlands have already gotten more rainfall than this area normally receives in an entire calendar year, and we still have 3 more months to go before the year comes to a close.
The normal amount of rainfall for the month of September in the Midlands is 3.91". This September, the Midlands saw 6.02" of rainfall. That is 2" more rainfall than the normal amount for the month. The event that contributed to this extra amount of rainfall in September is Hurricane Helene. Below are rainfall totals from Helene across the Midlands.
The normal amount of rainfall from January to the end of September in the Midlands is 35.65". The Midlands have already gotten 45.72" of rainfall. That puts the area 10.07" inches over where it would normally be this time of year.
Hurricane Helene also prevented the Midlands from entering a significant drought. This can be seen from comparing the last two drought monitors. The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) is a map released every Thursday, showing where drought is and how bad it is across the U.S. and its territories.
Last weeks drought monitor showed the entire Midlands in some level of drought. Most of the Midlands were in a moderate drought with portions of Fairfield, Kershaw, and Lee Counties being abnormally dry. The western part of the state was in a severe drought.
This weeks drought monitor shows there isn't anywhere in South Carolina in any level of drought. This is due to the rainfall from Helene.
