April Weather in Charleston South Carolina, United StatesDaily high temperatures increase by 6°F, from 71°F to 77°F, rarely falling below 62°F or exceeding 84°F. Daily low temperatures increase by 7°F, from 55°F to 62°F, rarely falling below 44°F or exceeding 70°F. For reference, on July 22, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Charleston typically range from 77°F to 89°F, while on January 17, the coldest day of the year, they range from 43°F to 59°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. Uzunbağ, Turkey (6,138 miles away); Yangshuo, China (8,410 miles); and Kuai’an, China (8,188 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Charleston (view comparison). CloudsThe month of April in Charleston experiences gradually decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 42% to 38%. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 37% on April 29. The clearest day of the month is April 29, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 63% of the time. For reference, on July 26, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 57%, while on October 26, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 66%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Charleston, the chance of a wet day over the course of April is gradually decreasing, starting the month at 28% and ending it at 25%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 51% on August 4, and its lowest chance is 19% on October 30. RainfallTo 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 Charleston is decreasing, starting the month at 3.0 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.5 inches or falls below 1.0 inches, and ending the month at 2.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.5 inches or falls below 0.9 inches. SunOver the course of April in Charleston, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 55 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 1 minute, 54 seconds, and weekly increase of 13 minutes, 15 seconds. The shortest day of the month is April 1, with 12 hours, 33 minutes of daylight and the longest day is April 30, with 13 hours, 28 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the month in Charleston is 7:07 AM on April 1 and the earliest sunrise is 34 minutes earlier at 6:33 AM on April 30. The earliest sunset is 7:40 PM on April 1 and the latest sunset is 21 minutes later at 8:01 PM on April 30. Daylight saving time is observed in Charleston 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 6:12 AM and sets 14 hours, 19 minutes later, at 8:30 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:18 AM and sets 10 hours, 0 minutes later, at 5:17 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. MoonThe 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.
HumidityWe 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 Charleston is rapidly increasing during April, rising from 10% to 30% over the course of the month. For reference, on July 19, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 99% of the time, while on January 31, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 1% of the time. WindThis 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 Charleston is gradually decreasing during April, decreasing from 10.3 miles per hour to 9.4 miles per hour over the course of the month. For reference, on February 26, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.9 miles per hour, while on August 16, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.8 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction in Charleston throughout April is predominantly from the south, with a peak proportion of 39% on April 29. Water TemperatureCharleston is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Charleston is increasing during April, rising by 5°F, from 65°F to 69°F, over the course of the month. Growing SeasonDefinitions 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 Charleston typically lasts for 10 months (308 days), from around February 15 to around December 19, rarely starting before January 22 or after March 11, and rarely ending before November 26 or after January 8. The month of April in Charleston is reliably fully within the growing season. 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 Charleston are rapidly increasing during April, increasing by 468°F, from 628°F to 1,096°F, over the course of the month. Solar EnergyThis 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 Charleston is gradually increasing during April, rising by 0.9 kWh, from 5.7 kWh to 6.6 kWh, over the course of the month. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Charleston are 32.777 deg latitude, -79.931 deg longitude, and 20 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Charleston is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 26 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 4 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (66 feet). Within 50 miles is essentially flat (509 feet). The area within 2 miles of Charleston is covered by water (60%), artificial surfaces (27%), and herbaceous vegetation (12%), within 10 miles by artificial surfaces (33%) and water (33%), and within 50 miles by water (50%) and trees (27%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Charleston, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere are 2 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Charleston. For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Charleston according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. The estimated value at Charleston is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Charleston and a given station. The stations contributing to this reconstruction are:
To get a sense of how much these sources agree with each other, you can view a comparison of Charleston and the stations that contribute to our estimates of its temperature history and climate. Please note that each source's contribution is adjusted for elevation and the relative change present in the MERRA-2 data. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |