The coldest week in South Carolina, station by station
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at South Carolina reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
ColumbiaColumbia, USW00013883
Jan 9 to 15
34°F
12°FDec 24, 2022
Nov 14
−1°FJan 21, 1985records since 1948
GreenvilleGreer, USW00003870
Jan 15 to 21
32°F
7°FDec 24, 2022
Nov 10
−6°FJan 30, 1966records since 1962
CharlestonCharleston International Airport, USW00013880
Jan 14 to 20
39°F
14°FJan 5, 2018
Dec 1
6°FJan 21, 1985records since 1937
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Columbia against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 3 South Carolina reference stations.
At Columbia it is usually Jan 9 to 15, with a normal low of 34°F. At the other reference stations: Greenville Jan 15 to 21 (32°F) and Charleston Jan 14 to 20 (39°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Columbia stays above 32°F all winter; it bottoms out at 34°F. Single nights still freeze: the first came around Nov 14 in the median of the last 10 winters.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Columbia was 12°F on Dec 24, 2022, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 18°F. Elsewhere: Greenville 7°F on Dec 24, 2022 and Charleston 14°F on Jan 5, 2018. The record at the Columbia station is −1°F, on Jan 21, 1985, in daily records since 1948.
At Columbia a typical recent winter brings 42 nights at 32°F or colder and 2 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Columbia (USW00013883), Greer (USW00003870) and Charleston International Airport (USW00013880). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
