1. WeatherSpark.com
  2. United States
  3. South Carolina
  4. Charleston

Fall Weather in Charleston South Carolina, United States

Daily high temperatures decrease by 21°F, from 86°F to 65°F, rarely falling below 54°F or exceeding 91°F.

Daily low temperatures decrease by 25°F, from 74°F to 49°F, rarely falling below 36°F or exceeding 78°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.

Average High and Low Temperature in the Fall in Charleston

Average High and Low Temperature in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov30°F30°F40°F40°F50°F50°F60°F60°F70°F70°F80°F80°F90°F90°F100°F100°FSummerWinterSep 186°FSep 186°F74°F74°FNov 3065°FNov 3065°F49°F49°FOct 179°FOct 179°F67°F67°FNov 171°FNov 171°F56°F56°FNowNow
The daily average high (red line) and low (blue line) temperature, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted lines are the corresponding average perceived temperatures.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average fall temperatures. 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.

Average Hourly Temperature in the Fall in Charleston

Average Hourly Temperature in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov12 AM12 AM2 AM2 AM4 AM4 AM6 AM6 AM8 AM8 AM10 AM10 AM12 PM12 PM2 PM2 PM4 PM4 PM6 PM6 PM8 PM8 PM10 PM10 PM12 AM12 AMSummerWinterNowNowcoldcoldcoolcomfortablewarmhot
frigid 15°F freezing 32°F very cold 45°F cold 55°F cool 65°F comfortable 75°F warm 85°F hot 95°F sweltering
The average hourly temperature, color coded into bands. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.

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).

Map
Marker
© OpenStreetMap contributors

Compare Charleston to another city:

Map

The fall in Charleston experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 40% throughout the season. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 34% on October 26.

The clearest day of the fall is October 26, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 66% 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%.

Cloud Cover Categories in the Fall in Charleston

Cloud Cover Categories in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%SummerWinterJul 2643%Jul 2643%Sep 154%Sep 154%Nov 3057%Nov 3057%Oct 161%Oct 161%Nov 163%Nov 163%NowNowclearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastmostly clear
0% clear 20% mostly clear 40% partly cloudy 60% mostly cloudy 80% overcast 100%
The percentage of time spent in each cloud cover band, categorized by the percentage of the sky covered by clouds.

A 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 the fall is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 41% and ending it at 22%.

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.

Probability of Precipitation in the Fall in Charleston

Probability of Precipitation in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov0%0%5%5%10%10%15%15%20%20%25%25%30%30%35%35%40%40%45%45%50%50%55%55%SummerWinterOct 2919%Oct 2919%Sep 141%Sep 141%Nov 3022%Nov 3022%Oct 129%Oct 129%NowNowrain
The percentage of days in which various types of precipitation are observed, excluding trace quantities: rain alone, snow alone, and mixed (both rain and snow fell in the same day).

Rainfall

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

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the fall in Charleston is very rapidly decreasing, starting the season at 5.1 inches, when it rarely exceeds 9.1 inches or falls below 1.8 inches, and ending the season at 2.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.4 inches or falls below 0.8 inches.

The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 2.3 inches on November 10.

Average Monthly Rainfall in the Fall in Charleston

Average Monthly Rainfall in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov0 in0 in2 in2 in4 in4 in6 in6 in8 in8 in10 in10 inSummerWinterNov 102.3 inNov 102.3 inSep 15.1 inSep 15.1 inNov 302.5 inNov 302.5 inOct 14.2 inOct 14.2 inNowNow
The average rainfall (solid line) accumulated over the course of a sliding 31-day period centered on the day in question, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted line is the corresponding average snowfall.

Over the course of the fall in Charleston, the length of the day is very rapidly decreasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day decreases by 2 hours, 39 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 1 minute, 46 seconds, and weekly decrease of 12 minutes, 24 seconds.

The shortest day of the fall is November 30, with 10 hours, 10 minutes of daylight and the longest day is September 1, with 12 hours, 49 minutes of daylight.

Hours of Daylight and Twilight in the Fall in Charleston

Hours of Daylight and Twilight in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov0 hr24 hr4 hr20 hr8 hr16 hr12 hr12 hr16 hr8 hr20 hr4 hr24 hr0 hrSummerWinterSep 2212 hr, 9 minSep 2212 hr, 9 minnightnightdaydayNov 3010 hr, 10 minNov 3010 hr, 10 minNov 110 hr, 50 minNov 110 hr, 50 minNowNow
The number of hours during which the Sun is visible (black line). From bottom (most yellow) to top (most gray), the color bands indicate: full daylight, twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and full night.

The latest sunrise of the fall in Charleston is 7:38 AM on November 2 and the earliest sunrise is 59 minutes earlier at 6:39 AM on November 3.

The latest sunset is 7:43 PM on September 1 and the earliest sunset is 2 hours, 30 minutes earlier at 5:13 PM on November 30.

Daylight saving time (DST) ends at 1:00 AM on November 3, 2024, shifting sunrise and sunset to be an hour earlier.

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.

Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight and Daylight Saving Time in the Fall in Charleston

Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight and Daylight Saving Time in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AMSummerWinter6:39 AM6:39 AMNov 35:26 PMNov 35:26 PM6:54 AM6:54 AMSep 17:43 PMSep 17:43 PM7:03 AM7:03 AMNov 305:13 PMNov 305:13 PM7:14 AM7:14 AMOct 17:03 PMOct 17:03 PMDSTNov 3DSTNov 3SolarMidnightSolarMidnightSolarNoonSunriseSunsetNowNow
The solar day in the fall. From bottom to top, the black lines are the previous solar midnight, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and the next solar midnight. The day, twilights (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and night are indicated by the color bands from yellow to gray. The transitions to and from daylight saving time are indicated by the 'DST' labels.

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.

Solar Elevation and Azimuth in the Fall in Charleston

Solar Elevation and Azimuth in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov12 AM12 AM2 AM2 AM4 AM4 AM6 AM6 AM8 AM8 AM10 AM10 AM12 PM12 PM2 PM2 PM4 PM4 PM6 PM6 PM8 PM8 PM10 PM10 PM12 AM12 AMSummerWinter01020203040506000102030304070NowNow
northeastsouthwest
Solar elevation and azimuth in the the fall of 2024. The black lines are lines of constant solar elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon, in degrees). The background color fills indicate the azimuth (the compass bearing) of the sun. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries of the cardinal compass points indicate the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the fall of 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.

Moon Rise, Set & Phases in the Fall in Charleston

Moon Rise, Set & Phases in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov12 AM12 AM4 AM4 AM8 AM8 AM12 PM12 PM4 PM4 PM8 PM8 PM12 AM12 AMSummerWinterAug 47:14 AMAug 47:14 AMAug 192:26 PMAug 192:26 PMSep 29:56 PMSep 29:56 PMSep 1710:35 PMSep 1710:35 PMOct 22:50 PMOct 22:50 PMOct 177:27 AMOct 177:27 AMNov 18:48 AMNov 18:48 AMNov 154:29 PMNov 154:29 PMDec 11:22 AMDec 11:22 AMDec 154:02 AMDec 154:02 AMDec 305:28 PMDec 305:28 PM8:46 PM8:46 PM8:17 PM8:17 PM7:36 AM7:36 AM7:45 PM7:45 PM7:17 PM7:17 PM7:34 AM7:34 AM7:01 PM7:01 PM6:15 PM6:15 PM7:31 AM7:31 AM7:43 AM7:43 AM6:24 PM6:24 PM4:59 PM4:59 PM7:47 AM7:47 AM5:21 PM5:21 PM4:26 PM4:26 PM7:44 AM7:44 AM5:03 PM5:03 PM
The time in which the moon is above the horizon (light blue area), with new moons (dark gray lines) and full moons (blue lines) indicated. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.

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 Charleston is very rapidly decreasing during the fall, falling from 91% to 10% over the course of the season.

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.

Humidity Comfort Levels in the Fall in Charleston

Humidity Comfort Levels in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov0%0%10%10%20%20%30%30%40%40%50%50%60%60%70%70%80%80%90%90%100%100%SummerWinterSep 191%Sep 191%Nov 3010%Nov 3010%Oct 154%Oct 154%Nov 121%Nov 121%NowNowmiserablemiserableoppressiveoppressivemuggymuggydrydryhumidhumidcomfortablecomfortable
dry 55°F comfortable 60°F humid 65°F muggy 70°F oppressive 75°F miserable
The percentage of time spent at various humidity comfort levels, categorized by dew point.

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 Charleston is increasing during the fall, increasing from 8.2 miles per hour to 10.0 miles per hour over the course of the season.

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.

Average Wind Speed in the Fall in Charleston

Average Wind Speed in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov0 mph0 mph2 mph2 mph4 mph4 mph6 mph6 mph8 mph8 mph10 mph10 mph12 mph12 mph14 mph14 mph16 mph16 mphSummerWinterSep 18.2 mphSep 18.2 mphNov 3010.0 mphNov 3010.0 mphOct 19.2 mphOct 19.2 mphNov 19.5 mphNov 19.5 mphNowNow
The average of mean hourly wind speeds (dark gray line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

The wind direction in Charleston during the fall is predominantly out of the east from September 1 to October 4 and the north from October 4 to November 30.

Wind Direction in the Fall in Charleston

Wind Direction in the Fall in CharlestonSENSepOctNov0%100%20%80%40%60%60%40%80%20%100%0%SummerWinterNowNowwestsoutheastnorth
northeastsouthwest
The percentage of hours in which the mean wind direction is from each of the four cardinal wind directions, excluding hours in which the mean wind speed is less than 1.0 mph. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries are the percentage of hours spent in the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

Charleston 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 very rapidly decreasing during the fall, falling by 13°F, from 82°F to 69°F, over the course of the season.

Average Water Temperature in the Fall in Charleston

Average Water Temperature in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov65°F65°F70°F70°F75°F75°F80°F80°F85°F85°FSummerWinterSep 182°FSep 182°FNov 3069°FNov 3069°FOct 178°FOct 178°FNov 172°FNov 172°FNowNow
The daily average water temperature (purple line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

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 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 fall in Charleston is very likely fully within the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season decreasing from 100% to 85% over the course of the season.

Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in the Fall in Charleston

Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in the Fall in Charlestongrowing seasonSepOctNov0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%SummerWinter100%Sep 1100%Sep 185%Nov 3085%Nov 30100%Oct 1100%Oct 1100%Nov 1100%Nov 150%Dec 1950%Dec 19NowNowvery coldcoldcoolcomfortablewarmhotfreezing
frigid 15°F freezing 32°F very cold 45°F cold 55°F cool 65°F comfortable 75°F warm 85°F hot 95°F sweltering
The percentage of time spent in various temperature bands. The black line is the percentage chance that a given day is 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 very rapidly increasing during the fall, increasing by 1,670°F, from 4,651°F to 6,322°F, over the course of the season.

Growing Degree Days in the Fall in Charleston

Growing Degree Days in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov4,500°F4,500°F5,000°F5,000°F5,500°F5,500°F6,000°F6,000°F6,500°F6,500°FSummerWinterSep 14,651°FSep 14,651°FNov 306,322°FNov 306,322°FOct 15,450°FOct 15,450°FNov 16,012°FNov 16,012°FNowNow
The average growing degree days accumulated over the course of the fall, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

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 Charleston is very rapidly decreasing during the fall, falling by 2.2 kWh, from 5.3 kWh to 3.0 kWh, over the course of the season.

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy in the Fall in Charleston

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy in the Fall in CharlestonSepOctNov0 kWh0 kWh1 kWh1 kWh2 kWh2 kWh3 kWh3 kWh4 kWh4 kWh5 kWh5 kWh6 kWh6 kWh7 kWh7 kWh8 kWh8 kWhSummerWinterSep 15.3 kWhSep 15.3 kWhNov 303.0 kWhNov 303.0 kWhOct 14.8 kWhOct 14.8 kWhNov 13.9 kWhNov 13.9 kWhNowNow
The average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground per square meter (orange line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

For 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%).

This 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 Point

There 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:

  • Charleston NAS (KCLX, 60%, 5 mi, north, -13 ft elevation change)
  • Charleston Executive Airport (KJZI, 40%, 7 mi, southwest, -3 ft elevation change)

Sources mapKCLX, 60%5 mi, -13 ftKJZI, 40%7 mi, -3 ft© OpenStreetMap contributors

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 Data

All 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.

Disclaimer

The 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.