Warmest Easter in 18 years forecast for Rock Hill area

Rock Hill-area residents will get a taste of early summer this weekend, with the warmest Easter temperatures in 18 years, according to weather forecasters.

With plentiful sunshine, afternoon readings in the low 80s are forecast for Saturday and Sunday. And those attending Easter sunrise services Sunday will only need sweaters, at most, with temperatures expected to be in the low 60s.

The high temperature forecast Sunday in Rock Hill is 82 degrees. That would be the warmest on an Easter holiday since a high of 85 in 1999. Easter fell on April 4 that year.

The forecast low of 62 would be the mildest since Easter 2006, which also fell on April 16, when the low was 63.

But an average of the forecast high and low Sunday, which would be 72, would be the warmest since 1999, when the average was 74 (high of 85, low of 63).

There won’t be much of a threat of any rain ruining the holiday. National Weather Service meteorologists say only the mountains stand a chance of showers or thunderstorms over the weekend.

The average highs and lows at this time of year are 72 and 52 degrees.

Over the past decade, Easter Sunday highs have been in the 50s two years, the 60s four years and the 70s four years.

Last year, when Easter fell on March 27, the high was only 61 degrees in Rock Hill.

The region’s coldest-ever April temperature fell on an Easter holiday. Ten years ago, the morning low on April 8 was 21 degrees. That freeze severely damaged the area’s fruit crops in 2007.

Precipitation, in the form of showers and thunderstorms, is forecast to return Monday afternoon and evening as a weak cold front slowly crosses the area.

The front is expected to stall across South Carolina on Tuesday and Wednesday, keeping showers in the forecast.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 12:48 PM with the headline "Warmest Easter in 18 years forecast for Rock Hill area."