“You guys are one of the driest parts of the state. We really wanted to see what kind of winter we had” before upgrading the drought status, Mizzell said. “Winter is when we recharge. That’s when we recharge our ground water and surface water. When you don’t recharge, it’s like building up a savings account and you need that saving account every spring and summer when evaporation and demand starts to increase.”
Not only did the Myrtle Beach area not receive its average rainfall for 2011, the cumulative five-year departure from the long range average is 55.82 inches, said Wes Tyler, the assistant state climatologist.
“The North Myrtle Beach area had the distinction of the least amount of rain in the state with only 32.93 inches, which is 19.08 inches below the long-term average. In 2010, you were minus 10.1 inches; in 2009 minus 6.8 [inches], in 2008 you were minus 1.4 [inches]; and in 2007 minus 18.5 [inches],” Tyler said. “For the last five years, the cumulative departure from the long term average is nearly 56 inches, so in the five years you’ve missed out on over a year’s worth of what would be considered an average years’ worth of rain.”
This winter has been warmer than 2010, but overall the five-year average temperature only varied by 1.1 degree, Tyler said. In December 2010, the average temperature in Myrtle Beach was 39.1 degrees while in December 2011, the average was 52.3 degrees.
“That was over 12 degrees difference between 2010 and 2011,” Tyler said. “You’ve only had one arctic air mass to visit the area on Jan. 3 and 4 when it got down to 20 degrees on the fourth. . . . We’ve managed to escape the big Canadian and arctic air masses.”
But weather officials are waiting to see what systems come into the area during February and how much rainfall occurs then before they deem this winter warm and dry.
“Does a dry January mean a dry February? Not necessarily,” Tyler said. “It can get very cold in February. This time of year you can have large differences.”
Golf rounds increase
A mild January has given golf courses a good start to 2012. Of course, it wouldn’t take much to beat the numbers from the past two frigid Januaries.
Approximately 67,000 and 59,000 paid rounds of golf – consisting of package and walk-on rounds – were played in the past two Januaries, according to the collection of a per-round transaction fee by marketing cooperative Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday.
That followed three consecutive opening months in which between 76,000 and 97,000 paid rounds were played from 2007-09.
Course operators expect their rounds to be back to those numbers when the totals are tabulated at the end of the month.
“It’s a little bit early to tell yet, but if you take December and January compared to the past two years the rounds are up nicely,” said George Hilliard, executive director of the Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association.
Courses endured several days in the past two Januaries without a single player.
“You had a lot of frost delays; you had a lot of days people wouldn’t even consider venturing out to play golf,” Hilliard said.
The weather this year has afforded courses at least some play throughout the month.
Greens fees are at their lowest point of the year, so profits aren’t maximized this month. But it’s still a welcomed increase.
Farming worries
With the spring planting season rapidly approaching, area farmers are concerned about the lack of soaking rains to saturate the soil for the summer growing season, said Kyle Daniel, executive director of the Georgetown County Farm Service Agency.
“[The drought] is the buzz with all the farmers,” Daniel said. “Historically, December, January, February are our wet winter months and those are the months we rely on to replenish our subsoil moisture. The way it’s going now it’s been minimal rainfall and as it now heading into the planting season we have minimal subsoil moisture.”
The lack of winter rains will likely mean that plant survival during the hot and dry months will be a struggle, Daniel said.
“The prospects of good prices are still in place and that is the encouraging farm outlook for 2012. But rarely does a farmer have high prices and a good crop. He’ll have a fair crop and good prices or mediocre prices and a good crop,” Daniel said. “You want to start with a good foundation and that’s not what they’re starting with this year. It’s just not there and you can’t make it exist. The hope is we’ll see some continuous rainfall.”
As the growing season begins, Daniel said he expects farmers to concentrate on irrigation tactics including conservation tillage to keep as much moisture in the ground as possible.
Tourism
The unseasonably warm weather during the past month likely lured some visitors to the Grand Strand for quick weekend getaways, but there’s no statistics that can show how much of a bump the beach has gotten because of the weather.
For some of the businesses that stay open during this traditionally slowest time of year, the increased traffic has been significant.
“For places on the boardwalk, it’s been a lot better with the weather,” said Bill Prescott, who owns Marvin’s on the Boardwalk and other downtown businesses. “It’s more traffic, a lot more people.”
Lodging occupancy for the past 30 days, from Dec. 27 through Thursday, averaged nearly 25 percent, up from the 21 percent during the same period a year ago, said Taylor Damonte of Coastal Carolina University’s Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism.
Experts say the unseasonably warm weather likely contributed to that 14.9 percent jump.
For roughly the same period, the temperatures have been up significantly compared with a year ago, according to Damonte’s records. The average temperature between Dec. 27 and Friday was 60 degrees, compared with 49 degrees for the same period a year ago, he said.
Weather forecasts become more important in travel planning during the off-season when people are more likely to take spur-of-the-moment trips, Damonte said. It’s such a factor during the off-season, Damonte includes the weather forecasts in his weekly lodging predictions during the spring, fall and winter.
“On Monday, they are making their final decisions to come,” he said, adding that vacationers check those five-day weather forecasts.
Prescott credits the weather with helping turn an off-season month when a business typically loses money into one that’s at least breaking even for the month with the increased traffic.
“Well, it could be snowing, ya know?” Prescott said. “It’s January. It’s 70 degrees. That doesn’t happen very often.”
Heating bill relief
The warmer weather this month is much appreciated when people have to make a choice between paying their heating bills and getting food or medicine.
With a frosty winter in 2011, many people saw their utility bills go up, and local help agencies saw more people in need of assistance with their high heating bills.
This January, that has not necessarily been the case.
“Last year, it was bad,” said Maggie Davis, who lives in Georgetown County. “My utility bill was very high.”
Davis’ bill last January was more than $400, mainly because she was baking and heating her home, she said.
Her bill this January is about $143.
With Davis’ bill not being as high as last year, she said, “I can get more of the stuff I need.”
That includes medicine for Davis, who is diabetic.
And she appreciates that and the fact that she didn’t have to turn her heat on Wednesday.
“[Tuesday morning] I had the heat on, but I turned it off by 10 a.m.,” Davis said. “I could put on a sweater or light jacket when I’m around the house. I try to save as much as I can.”
Shopping
Some Conway merchants said they’ve seen an increase in business this year over last and they figure the weather has at least something to do with it.
“I think everybody is tired of winter and tired of 2011 and ready for a fresh start,” said Angie Grainger, owner of Little Angels Children’s Boutique and Big Oak Frame and Stationery Shop on Third Avenue.
She said the uptick in shoppers hasn’t been a stampede, but just about anything is welcome.
“I’m not at the point where I say ‘finally’ (the bad economy is over),” she said, “but at least I’m not going backward.”
Nicole Moore, owner of the nearby Gypsy Boutique on Main Street, said she thought Christmas shopping was slow compared to last year, but has noticed it has picked up this month.
“I almost have the feeling today that people were holding back over Christmas,” Moore said, “and now are spending it on themselves.”
Yes, she said, she believes the warm weather has played its part.
“People get that spring fever and want to buy some spring clothes,” she said.
Mosquitoes
The winter’s warm, dry weather has kept Horry County’s mosquito population in check.
Tom Garigen, who oversees Horry County Stormwater Management, said there has to be a combination of air temperatures that remain above 50 degrees overnight, and significant water levels to help the eggs hatch that are laid in the banks of ditches.
While the warm temperatures have been there, the rain hasn’t. Without the precipitation, the mosquito complaints haven’t been coming in.
“I’ve seen a mosquito here, a mosquito there,” Garigen said.
And while the long-range forecast shows above-normal temperatures for the month of February, that other component -- rain -- must be in the mix before mosquitoes start becoming a problem again for local residents.
Landscaping dormant
Scott Barth, owner of Extreme Landscaping in Socastee, said he anticipated more business this winter because of the mild weather, but hasn’t found that to be the case.
His business is steady, he said, because of a base of 100 routine customers.
He said grasses and shrubbery are still dormant despite the warmer temperatures, but spring weeds are popping up earlier than normal.
Barth said the milder temperatures actually might entice more people into their yards to do their own work.
“Some people don’t mind doing yard work,” he said, “they just don’t want to do it when it’s 100 degrees.”
Road construction gains
Steve Gosnell, head of Horry County’s infrastructure and regulation department, said the dry weather is obviously a problem in certain areas, but from a construction perspective, it’s been very beneficial. Many construction projects have moved along much further than if the weather was a typical wet winter.
One example is the back gate construction zone at the intersection of U.S. 17 and Farrow Parkway. Lisa Bourcier, Horry County spokeswoman, said rain events last summer impacted progress being made at the back gate.
Now, things have changed.
“This fall and winter weather has been pretty good,” Bourcier said. “We are 25 percent complete.”
Staff reporters Alan Blondin, Dawn Bryant, Brad Dickerson, Janelle Frost and Steve Jones contributed to this report.
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