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NOUS42 KCHS 201334
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GAZ087-088-099>101-114>119-137>141-SCZ040-042>045-047>052-211345-

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Charleston SC
934 AM EDT Sat Oct 20 2018

...REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON FROST/FREEZE
PROGRAM...

The National Weather Service in Charleston will issue watches,
warnings and advisories for frost and freeze conditions across
Southeast South Carolina and parts of Southeast Georgia north of
the Altamaha River during the growing season. The local growing
season runs from March through November based on climatology.

The following are the products we issued and their associated
criteria:

...Freeze Watch...
Freeze watches are issued when there is a 50 percent or greater
probability that low temperatures will drop to 32 degrees or
lower during the growing season, usually within 12 to 48 hours.

...Freeze Warning...
Freeze warnings are issued when there is an 80 percent or greater
probability that low temperatures will drop to 32 degrees or
lower during the growing season, usually within 12 to 24 hours.

...Frost Advisory...
Frost advisories are issued when there is an 80 percent or
greater probability that conditions will support the development
of scattered or widespread frost during the growing season.
Advisories are typically not issued for patchy frost.

If a freeze occurs across all of Southeast South Carolina and
northern portions of Southeast Georgia prior to November 30,
frost and freeze products will be discontinued for the remainder
of the season for the entire area. Even if a freeze does not
occur prior to the end of November for the entire area, frost and
freeze products will still be discontinued beginning December
1 until the growing season effectively resumes again March 1 next
year.

The following are median first freeze dates for some locations
across the area based on data from 1981 to 2010:

...Southeast South Carolina...
Yemassee.....................November 1
Allendale....................November 7
Walterboro...................November 9
Summerville..................November 16
Mcclellanville...............November 16
Hampton......................November 18
Charleston Airport /KCHS/....November 29
Sullivans Island.............December 3
Beaufort.....................December 8
Downtown Charleston..........December 24

...Southeast Georgia...
Millen.......................November 3
Claxton......................November 18
Brooklet.....................November 21
Glennville...................November 25
Savannah Airport /KSAV/......November 28
Fort Stewart.................December 1
Sapelo Island................December 11

A map of median last freeze dates can be found on our website:

http://www.weather.gov/images/chs/misc/median_first_freeze.png

$$