Beaufort County storm stats: You don’t even want to know how much warmer Jan. 3, 2017 was

A winter storm hit the Lowcountry on Wednesday, and for the first time in years it snowed in Beaufort County.

Snowfall is rare in this area, having snowed only eight times in the last 53 years. A freezing rain, sleet and dusting of snow last happened in February 2014. Before that, Beaufort County saw 3 inches in February 2010. The Christmas storm of 1989 brought about 5 inches of snow.

Yesterday’s storm statistics are still preliminary, according to Ron Morales at the National Weather Service in Charleston. Morales said temperature and wind speed are taken from nearby Savannah because the information was not yet available for Beaufort County.

Here’s what we know about Wednesday’s storm:

Estimated total snowfall: 2 to 4 inches in the more coastal areas of Beaufort County; 4 to 6 inches in the more inland portions of the county, near the border of Jasper County.

Neil Dixon, a meteorologist with the NWS said Wednesday evening Hilton Head Island reported 4.5 inches of snow, Bluffton reported 4 inches, and the Savannah Hilton Head International Airport reported 1.2 inches.

Lowest temperature: About 20 degrees

Highest temperature: About 30 degrees

Highest wind speed: 17 miles per hour, with gusts up to 22 mph. Wind chills dropped to about 8 degrees Wednesday evening.

A year ago, the weather looked very different for Beaufort County. On Jan. 3, 2017, a high of 71 was reported, with a low of 60, according to the Weather Underground.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Beaufort County storm stats: You don’t even want to know how much warmer Jan. 3, 2017 was."