COLUMBIA, S.C. — March is a new month, and the start of a new season! Although the Vernal (Spring) Equinox falls on March 20, 2022 - the coldest 3 months of the year (December, January, and February) are behind us now.
March 1st marks the end to "Meteorological Winter" and the beginning of "Meteorological Spring". Meteorologists define seasons from the beginning to the end of a month to make data-keeping easier. We now have the numbers from the Winter '21 - '22 season. It was another warm one in the Midlands and across the country.
December 2021
December 2021 was the warmest in 127 years of record keeping for the United States. In South Carolina, it was the 2nd warmest December on record. Columbia reported its 6th warmest December on record with a holiday heatwave bringing temperatures into the 70s. Records for Columbia, SC go back to 1888. Precipitation for the month was near normal in South Carolina and across most of the country.
January 2022
January started off with record warm temperatures in Columbia, SC. In more than 130 years of record keeping, the city has never reported a warmer winter low temperature than the 69F seen on Jan 1, 2022. This temperature beat the old "warmest winter low" record for the month of January by 4 degrees.
The most memorable part of winter was the multiple winter weather events in the South Carolina midlands through mid to late January. On January 21st, Columbia ended the longest 1" snow drought in history of a 2" snow storm. This came one week after a significant ice storm in the northwestern Midlands and a week before more snow flurries fell across the Midlands. The low temperature in Columbia dropped to 19F which was the coldest morning since 2018, ending a nearly unprecedented streak of temperatures above 20F.
Overall, January temperatures were 2 degrees below average in the South Carolina Midlands, but the country as a whole reported it's 10th warmest January in 127 years of record keeping. A majority of the above average temperatures occurred in the great plains. They reported their 2nd warmest average January low temperatures on record.
February 2022
February consisted of very few cold outbreaks in South Carolina and ended with record warmth. Columbia reached 85F on February 24, which was the earliest an 85F temperature was recorded in the city on record. It was also the second warmest winter day on record in Columbia. The warmest winter day on record, 86F, happened just last year on February 28th.