April Weather in Columbia South Carolina, United States

Daily high temperatures increase by 7°F, from 72°F to 80°F, rarely falling below 60°F or exceeding 89°F.

Daily low temperatures increase by 7°F, from 50°F to 57°F, rarely falling below 37°F or exceeding 66°F.

For reference, on July 19, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Columbia typically range from 73°F to 92°F, while on January 17, the coldest day of the year, they range from 36°F to 56°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on April. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

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The month of April in Columbia experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 42% throughout the month. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 40% on April 30.

The clearest day of the month is April 30, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 60% of the time.

For reference, on February 11, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 51%, while on October 26, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 65%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Columbia, the chance of a wet day over the course of April is gradually decreasing, starting the month at 28% and ending it at 26%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 48% on July 27, and its lowest chance is 19% on October 30.

Rainfall

To show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during April in Columbia is gradually decreasing, starting the month at 3.1 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.7 inches or falls below 1.0 inches, and ending the month at 2.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.6 inches or falls below 0.9 inches.

Over the course of April in Columbia, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 58 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 1 minute, 59 seconds, and weekly increase of 13 minutes, 54 seconds.

The shortest day of the month is April 1, with 12 hours, 35 minutes of daylight and the longest day is April 30, with 13 hours, 32 minutes of daylight.

The latest sunrise of the month in Columbia is 7:10 AM on April 1 and the earliest sunrise is 35 minutes earlier at 6:35 AM on April 30.

The earliest sunset is 7:45 PM on April 1 and the latest sunset is 22 minutes later at 8:07 PM on April 30.

Daylight saving time is observed in Columbia during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during April, so the entire month is in daylight saving time.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:13 AM and sets 14 hours, 25 minutes later, at 8:38 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:25 AM and sets 9 hours, 53 minutes later, at 5:19 PM.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for April 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Columbia is increasing during April, rising from 2% to 10% over the course of the month.

For reference, on August 4, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 90% of the time, while on January 30, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Columbia is gradually decreasing during April, decreasing from 7.9 miles per hour to 7.3 miles per hour over the course of the month.

For reference, on March 7, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 8.0 miles per hour, while on August 7, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 5.5 miles per hour.

The wind direction in Columbia during April is predominantly out of the south from April 1 to April 9 and from April 15 to April 21 and the west from April 9 to April 15 and from April 21 to April 30.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season in Columbia typically lasts for 7.9 months (240 days), from around March 19 to around November 14, rarely starting before February 24 or after April 12, and rarely ending before October 27 or after December 3.

The month of April in Columbia is more likely than not fully within the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season rapidly increasing from 76% to 99% over the course of the month.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Columbia are increasing during April, increasing by 424°F, from 480°F to 904°F, over the course of the month.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Columbia is gradually increasing during April, rising by 0.9 kWh, from 5.6 kWh to 6.6 kWh, over the course of the month.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Columbia are 34.001 deg latitude, -81.035 deg longitude, and 285 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Columbia contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 262 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 229 feet. Within 10 miles also contains only modest variations in elevation (463 feet). Within 50 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (748 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Columbia is covered by artificial surfaces (97%), within 10 miles by artificial surfaces (62%) and trees (26%), and within 50 miles by trees (57%) and cropland (24%).