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South Carolinians got a rare taste of winter weather this week as an Arctic blast moved across the Palmetto State, depositing several inches of snow in regions which hadn’t seen measurable amounts of the white stuff in several years.
Official precipitation estimates are forthcoming, but the Midlands and coastal regions of the state appeared to receive most of the snowfall associated with this eastern-moving system – which witnessed moisture from the Gulf of America collide with a massive vortex of Arctic air to blanket the deep south.
Take a look…
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Now that skies have cleared out, we can clearly see which areas saw accumulating snowfall yesterday. The current highest snow total in our forecast area is 3.8 inches near Bowman, SC. The highest report in our Georgia counties is 3 inches at a few locations. #CAEWx #SCWx #GAWx pic.twitter.com/TUIBUMCKlL
— NWS Columbia (@NWSColumbia) January 22, 2025
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The same system which dumped snow on South Carolina also deposited record amounts of winter precipitation on our southern neighbors – including Louisiana and Florida. At least ten people reportedly perished in connection with this rare blizzard, which also prompted sporadic power outages and caused chaos on roadways.
Dicey conditions on Palmetto State roadways were already prevailing on Tuesday evening, as captured by our special projects director Dylan Nolan…
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Snow is accumulating in South Carolina's midlands region.
— Dylan Nolan (@dnolan2000) January 22, 2025
Crews are treating and plowing highways, but most other roads are quickly becoming icy and dangerous (as is demonstrated in this footage I captured in Irmo).
Stay safe out there.
??@FITSNews pic.twitter.com/kzzEZMgF2s
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On Wednesday morning, compacted snow turned into ice – and conditions on roadways deteriorated further.
“Roads are a sheet of ice,” Midlands-based weather enthusiast Mitch West wrote on X.
“Road crews are working to treat and clear icy roads across the state, but hazardous conditions remain,” governor Henry McMaster wrote on X. “If you need to travel today, please drive carefully.”
Among the many accidents they were working, troopers with the S.C. Highway Patrol (SCHP) reported a tractor-trailer jackknifing on Interstate 26 in Orangeburg County at mile marker 165 near Bowman, S.C. – which received an estimated 3.8″ of snow.
That incident blocked all lanes of the thoroughfare, troopers noted.
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Traffic Alert : Orangeburg County
— Trooper Brittany SCHP (@SCHP_Troop7) January 22, 2025
I-26 at the 165 eastbound
We have a jackknife tractor trailer. ALL lanes are blocked at this time . pic.twitter.com/vNWHcGfAqw
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This week’s Arctic incursion is part of a bitterly cold start to 2025… one that’s sure to revive the debate in America over man-made “climate change” (f.k.a. “global warming”).
In fairness to those who subscribe to this theory, last year was the hottest year on record worldwide – per data from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Also, those who follow this outlet regularly know we closely monitor temperatures here in the Palmetto State – and have taken note of recent rising trends.
Having said that, it’s worth pointing out the purported culprit behind the rising mercury – elevated carbon dioxide emissions – have been on the decline in the United States in recent decades due to a natural gas renaissance. Expanded natural gas infrastructure has helped wean the nation off of coal – a CO2-heavy fuel – for the past two decades, resulting in steady reductions in the nation’s carbon footprint.
As for the “alternative” energy sources? Eh…
South Carolina lawmakers are hoping to expand the Palmetto State’s natural gas infrastructure as part of their energy reforms in 2025 – while also exploring the possible reboot of a planned nuclear power facility in Jenkinsville, S.C. that was abandoned nearly a decade ago.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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2 comments
Gulf of America???
Trump toady.
Donald Trump has been President less than three days and he has already fixed Global Warming.