Weather Alert  –  December 5, 2025

Gloomy Through Saturday,
A Little More Rain Monday

A stationary front just to our south and east will keep us gray and mostly wet through Saturday. The heaviest rain will fall over the Lowcountry, while the Upstate will see the least.

The good part of this is that parts of the state remain in a drought, so persistent chilly, wet weather is beneficial there. 

I’m sure some people are happy to see the rain (for example, I need to burn some wood debris that’s been accumulating in my backyard, and it’s been way too dry for that for months), but for most, it’s a bummer that Saturday looks gloomy.

The rain comes in two waves as weak storms ride along the front to our south. The first is passing through this part of the country today, causing rain across the state. Rain will become confined to coastal areas tonight, then the next wave will affect areas mainly along and south of I-20 on Saturday. The rest of the state will remain dry Saturday, and parts of the Upstate might even see the sun pop out briefly at the end of the day. Temperatures will mainly sit in the 40s and lower 50s today, drop to the upper 30s and 40s tonight, then recover to the lower to middle 50s Saturday.

Traveler’s Advisory: Those heading north into central and northern Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware through this evening will encounter snow; not a lot, but enough to cause slippery spots on the secondary roads and back roads.

A loop of visible satellite imagery shows clouds along and north of a stationary front stretching across the Gulf, Georgia, Florida, and the western Atlantic.

Image Source: University of Wisconsin RealEarth

We’ll see a better day on Sunday. Much of the state will see clouds and fog to start, but it looks partly sunny by the afternoon. Highs will mainly be in the 50s, and parts of the Lowcountry could touch 60.

Another storm system will move in on Sunday night, causing light rain to break out again during the wee hours of Monday. A cold front will move in early on Monday as well, with air cold enough to turn the rain to snow up in the land of vinegar and tomato sauce. It’s conceivable that some wet snowflakes mix with the rain over areas north of I-20 here in South Carolina, but don’t expect anything significant. “Cold air chasing moisture” setups rarely lead to significant snow in this part of the country. Besides, there won’t be much precipitation falling on Monday, no matter what form it takes. Highs on Monday will range from the mid-40s north to the mid-50s south.

Tuesday and Wednesday look tranquil under high pressure. That keeps us mainly sunny both days; Tuesday will be chilly with highs in the 40s and lower 50s, but Wednesday will be milder with highs mostly 55-60° (near average for early December). 

A 1-2 punch of cold fronts will likely affect us Thursday into next Friday. However, neither front will be able to tap into substantial moisture, so we’ll see little or no rain during the period. Thursday looks a bit warmer than Wednesday with highs mainly in the upper 50s to middle 60s, but it will turn chilly again Friday with highs mainly in the 50s.

Next weekend looks dry but cold. Highs will likely be in the 40s and 50s, with most of the state dropping below freezing at night. It’ll feel a lot like Christmas, and look that way, too. Brown grass, red and green pine trees, and bare hardwoods are how we normally roll at Christmas down here in South Carolina.

Frank Strait
Severe Weather Liaison
S.C. State Climate Office

Weather Alert  –  November 28, 2025

Tropics Done

The hurricane season for this year ends on Sunday, but it’s quiet across the Atlantic tropics, and there is no reasonable chance for any more storms to form over the next few weeks. So, I’m going to go ahead and call it: we did it … we survived another hurricane season!

The season was below average in terms of the number of named storms (13, the average in recent decades is 14.1) and hurricanes (five, the average is 7.1), but above average in terms of major hurricanes (four, the average is 3.2) and seasonal ACE (accumulated cyclone energy, a measure of how much energy a season’s storms expend, there was a total of 132.6 units of ACE from this year’s storms and the average is 121.5).

The best part of this year’s hurricane season is that we only had one landfalling storm in the United States. It was Tropical Storm Chantal, which made landfall here in South Carolina near Litchfield Beach on July 6. Impacts here in South Carolina were low-end, as the winds were not particularly strong and the storm’s rain was mostly welcome. However, Chantal’s rains caused severe flooding in parts of North Carolina and Virginia.

A map from the National Hurricane Center showing the tracks of 2025’s Atlantic storms.

It will likely be months before we face another tropical threat, but it’s important to remain prepared. If it’s not something coming out of the tropics, it can be tornadoes, winter storms, and even earthquakes. So, check out those SCEMD webpages to be well-informed about disaster preparedness.

A cold front that moved through on Wednesday night put an end to our warm weather, and it will be a while before any of us in the Palmetto State see it well into the 70s again. We started this morning with the coldest readings of the season so far, or nearly so, and we’re going to see temperatures remain mostly below average over the next week.

No, it won’t be cold enough for snow. Not for the next week, anyway. We might see some opportunities for a winter storm later in December, but not right off the bat.

A storm will pass by to our north over the weekend and pull a cold front into South Carolina on Sunday. Ahead of it, we remain cold but tranquil through today and Saturday with highs in the 40s north and 50s south. In between, much of the state will see subfreezing temperatures again tonight, with 20s widespread.

Warmth surges into the Coastal Plain ahead of the next front, sending highs along and south of I-20 into the 60s (maybe 70° in the warmest spots), while the chilly air remains stuck over I-85 and north due to cold air damming; it will hold in the 40s and lower 50s there. Unfortunately, the front won’t have much moisture to work with, and we’ll only see isolated showers as it moves through. However, there could be a steadier drizzly or misty nuisance in the areas stuck in the cold air damming regime.

The front will become stationary to our south, and another storm will ride along it through the Southeast on Monday night into Tuesday. The storm track will be along the Gulf Coast and then along the Carolina coast (you know, the sort that causes winter storms ’round these here parts, but it won’t be cold enough to cause any snow or ice here). It will be a close call for a little freezing rain northwest of I-85, where it will likely be in the middle to upper 30s when the rain moves in, so we’ll have to watch for changes in the coldest spots in our northwest. However, it’s likely to be a rain-only event for all of South Carolina. It will be a cold rain for most with highs only in the 40s north of I-20, with 60s confined to the coast.

The good news is that we are likely to see widespread soaking rain of 1-2 inches across the state. There may even be rumbles of thunder along the Coastal Plain. Much of the state remains in a drought, which worsened compared to last week because it was mostly dry.  

The latest U. S. Drought Monitor for South Carolina issued on Wednesday
shows about a fourth of the state in a drought.

Wednesday through Friday next week looks dry and chilly. Highs will be mainly in the 50s on Wednesday, then it is likely to warm up somewhat to near-average 50s and low 60s for the end of the week. Another good chance of rain could arrive as early as next Friday night; next Saturday is likely to be wet, followed by a drier, colder Sunday.

Frank Strait
Severe Weather Liaison
S.C. State Climate Office