Record lows recorded, but warmer temps for Thanksgiving

By RANDY BURNS
Item Staff Writer
rburns@theitem.com

The refrain "It's cold outside" has replaced "Good morning" as the greeting of choice in Sumter and the surrounding areas this week.

This daily greeting signals a weather change that made the record books.

A new daily "coldest high temperature" was recorded on Tuesday at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport -- 45 degrees, besting the previous record of 48, which was set on that date in 1957.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Jeff Linton said a strong Canadian high pressure caused record-breaking temperatures in the Midlands on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Residents in the Sumter area woke up Wednesday to the coldest temperatures of the season thus far. Shaw Air Force Base recorded a morning low of 24 degrees.

A low of 22 degrees was recorded in Columbia, the coldest temperature recorded on that date since 1891, Linton said.

The cold weather will stick around through the weekend, he said.

"Another cold front is coming down Thursday night," Linton said. "And it looks like it's going to be as cold this weekend as it is now."

Temperatures on Saturday are forecasted to be in the mid-20s in the morning and in the low 50s in the afternoon. Temperatures all week will be about 15 to 20 degrees below normal, Linton said. Average highs for mid-November are in the mid-60s, and average lows are in the low 40s.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Tom Kines said successive Canadian air masses have been the pattern for the eastern U.S.

"To simplify it, the jet stream has been taking a plunge in the east," Kines said. "It is coming from northern Canada. The air is modified, but it is cold. And the pattern we're in does not favor extended, warm spells."

So what's the forecast for Thanksgiving? It may rain on Monday or Tuesday, Kines said, as another cold front moves through. Once the cold front passes, temperatures should go up.

"It does not look like it is going to be (as) cold over Thanksgiving as we're experiencing right now," he said. "And some more good news is that right now, Wednesday and Thursday (Thanksgiving) look to be dry in the east. And those are the two big travel days."

Record-breaking temperatures were also recorded Wednesday in other areas of the state. Morning lows of 22 were recorded in Rock Hill and Anderson, and the mercury dipped to 23 degrees in Darlington. There were even some snow flurries reported in the northern coastal regions, including North Myrtle Beach and Mullins.