COLUMBIA, S.C. — Thursday was a stormy and warm day across the Midlands. Temperatures will be cooler today. A few showers are possible this afternoon and this evening. The weekend will be mainly sunny and cool as high pressure build into the area. Rain will be possible again by Tuesday.
Some sunshine is expected today, but this afternoon, showers are forecast to develop again. As the rain falls some of the precipitation could be mixed with some graupel. This is not a common form of precipitation for our area.
Graupel are soft, small pellets formed when supercooled water droplets (at a temperature below 32°F) freeze onto a snow crystal, a process called riming.
If the riming is particularly intense, the rimed snow crystal can grow to an appreciable. Graupel is also called snow pellets or soft hail. The graupel particles are fragile and generally disintegrate when handled.
Temperatures will be in the upper 40s to lower 50s, this will melt any of the graupel that may fall very quickly. We probably have already achieved our daytime highs though. Early this morning, temperatures were in the upper 50s.
The weekend will be mainly sunny and cool. Highs Saturday will be in the upper 40s to near 50 degrees. Saturday night will be clear and cold. Lows are forecast to drop into the middle to upper 20s Sunday morning.
A few clouds will be possible Sunday afternoon. Highs will rebound into the middle 50s as a gradual warming trend begins.
Monday will be partly cloudy with highs in the upper 50s. Some rain is possible Tuesday. Temperatures will hit the middle 60s.
