So far, Augusta's weather for 2003 has been a lot different from 2002.
Dave Schuetrum, of the National Weather Service in West Columbia, S.C. said total rainfall for the Augusta area this year - 20.02 inches - is about 3 inches above normal. In comparison, rainfall was about an inch below normal this time last year, he said.
Still, weather officials predict that precipitation levels will become more normal as the year goes on.
"It will all even out," Mr. Scheutrum said. "We've gotten used to subnormal precipitation with this drought. And now we're getting back to normal and it seems odd right now. Our memories are kind of short-sighted."
On Tuesday, local residents got a rude awakening. An afternoon storm that dropped hail and heavy rain on the Augusta area also brought a tornado to Lincoln County, according to the National Weather Service, and a microburst - a surge of wind reaching 70 to 100 mph - to McCormick County, S.C.
Steve Naglic, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said an F-0 tornado touched down in Lincoln County on Tuesday afternoon, packing winds of about 60 mph. He said the tornado knocked some trees down and spanned an area between the New Hope and Kenna communities east of Lincolnton. There were no injuries.
An F-0 tornado is the weakest on the Fujita scale.
Casey Broom, the director of Lincoln County emergency services, said the storm damaged docks and a couple of boats at the Soap Creek Marina. A tree also fell through a restaurant at the marina.
"There was significant damage, but it seemed to be isolated to that area," he said.
Mother Nature's wrath was expected to continue Wednesday, with another powerful storm predicted to hit the Augusta area Wednesday night. Mr. Schuetrum said today's forecast calls for a 20 percent chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm, partly cloudy skies with a high near 90 and a low in the upper 60s. Forecasts call for the possibility of daily thunderstorms in the area through Monday.
For the remainder of the year, Mr. Schuetrum said, Augusta residents should expect rainfall and temperature levels to stay close to normal figures.
"We're not expecting an excessively hot summer, and we're not expecting it to be cooler than normal," he said.
Reach Preston Sparks at (706) 828-3904 or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com.
