COLUMBIA, S.C. — On what would seem like a typical late-Summer day in Columbia, SC, multiple records fell including an all-time record dating back 76 years.
Starting off with the temperatures, the forecast included a hot a very hot day. WLTX meteorologists expected a low of 79 and a high of 99 for the day. This came to fruition with a record-breaking low temperature of 78 which was set at the end of the day at midnight. The daytime high was impressive hitting a peak of 101 degrees which also set the daytime high record for August 15th.
This extreme heat led to severe weather in the afternoon and this is where the most impressive record of the day was recorded. Around 4:30 PM severe storms caused a microburst which produced 88 mph winds at Columbia Metropolitan Airport.
This wind gust broke the all-time record for this recording site which dates back to 1947. Amazingly this beats out several high profile severe weather events including Hurricane Hugo (1989), the April 2011 severe weather outbreak, and the 2020 tornado outbreak. All events that had very extreme impacts on the region but, brought lower wind gusts to the airport.
The good news about Tuesday's storms was that the specific storm at the airport caused no damage which is surprising given the 88mph speed. There were reports of wind damage from around the Midlands from other storms moved through. Most reports consisted of tree damage due to straight-line winds that were between 60 to 70 mph at times.