COLUMBIA, S.C. — Drought conditions may develop in the coming weeks here in the Midlands. As it turns out, that may be pretty normal looking back at our history here when it comes to Fall weather in the state.
Fall is the season of cooler temperatures and changing leaves but, it can also be considered our quietest weather season of the year.
Looking at the average rainfall, Fall beats out our Spring as the driest season of the year which is surprising given the potential of tropical weather rainfall that can still occur this time of the year that can bring very large rainfall totals to parts of the state.
Fall features two main weather patterns. The first is cold air damming which brings dry northeast air into the region. The southeast ridge can also be present but doesn’t feature the moisture and heat that we see in the Summer for thunderstorms.
These weather patterns have led to drought being more likely in this season with 7 of the last 10 Octobers featuring drought in the State.
This will likely be the case this year as well. Currently, there is only 1% of the state in drought with this number likely to grow in the central part of the state.
Soil Moisture is low given the latest observations with no rain expected in the region by the Weather Prediction Center.
While we won’t see any agricultural impacts at first, fall leaf foliage will be impacted by this weather with colors likely being duller in both of the Carolinas compared to last year.
