“To be exact, record warmth on June 29, 2012, is the highlighted event. The temperature observation of 113 F recorded that day at the Columbia University of South Carolina National Weather Service (NWS) Cooperative site has been approved as the new state of South Carolina record maximum temperature," according to Hope Mizzell, Ph.D., SC State Climatologist.
“This value breaks the long-standing record of 111 F first set on Sept. 4, 1925, at Blackville, at Calhoun Falls on Sept. 8, 1925, and tied at Camden on June 27, 1954.
South Carolina’s first state temperature record was recognized in 1887, 125 years ago.”
“The heat wave that occurred on June 29 and 30 was a rare event,” said Leonard Vaughan, Meteorologist, Columbia National Weather Station. “The meteorological conditions included a strong ridge of high pressure extending from the Tennessee Valley into the Carolinas which produced a large area of sinking air across the region. When air sinks it compresses causing even warmer temperatures at the surface. The air mass was also rather dry for late June. These conditions led to the record breaking event.”