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The aftershocks continue to rumble through the Midlands as another earthquake was confirmed in the Columbia area Wednesday night.

A 1.6 magnitude earthquake was recorded near Elgin at 8:08 p.m., according to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division.

The earthquake that was recorded at a depth of 5 kilometers, or about 3 miles, was the ninth in South Carolina since the start of the new year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Eight of the quakes have been in the Midlands.

This continues a recent trend of seismic activity. Prior to Wednesday, the most recent incident was a 1.8 magnitude quake on Jan. 15.

In all, 15 earthquakes have hit the Columbia area since Dec. 27, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

No major damage or injuries have been reported from any of the recent quakes.

Earthquakes that register 2.5 magnitude or less often go unnoticed and are usually only recorded by a seismograph, according to Michigan Technological University. Any quake less than 5.5 magnitude is not likely to cause significant damage, the school said.

It is typical for South Carolina to have between six and 10 earthquakes a year, the S.C. Geological Survey previously reported. There have been 39 earthquakes in South Carolina since Jan. 18, 2021, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

There were at least 11 earthquakes recorded by the USGS in South Carolina in 2020.

Following Wednesday’s activity, 29 earthquakes have been recorded since Sept. 27, 2020, in the Palmetto State, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

Of the earthquakes confirmed in South Carolina since the start of 2021, 26 occurred in the Midlands, S.C. Department of Natural Resources data shows.

A winter storm watch has been issued for much of the Midlands, as freezing rain and snow are forecast this week.

The watch goes into effect Thursday night, when the precipitation is expected to begin. The watch for the Columbia area is in place through 7 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

“This is the typical southern winter weather event,” National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Gropp told The State Wednesday. “It’s hard to predict, but there will be a mixed bag of (precipitation) that includes rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow.”

Freezing rain is expected to affect a larger portion of the Midlands than any other winter weather elements, but both sleet and snow are possible for large swaths of the region, according to the National Weather Service.

The watch covers Richland County and Lexington County, but also includes Kershaw, Newberry, Fairfield, Saluda, Lee, Sumter, Calhoun, Clarendon, Chesterfield, and Lancaster counties.

Because temperatures are expected to drop below freezing Friday morning, winter weather elements beyond rain are expected, Gropp said. The possible high Friday is 34 degrees, while lows in the mid 20s are expected at night, the forecast shows.

Any freezing rain or snow will be caused by a cold front that’s moving through the area and bringing in arctic air behind it, according to the National Weather Service.

Freezing rain could begin Thursday night when there is a 60% chance of precipitation, while snow and sleet are likely to start falling on Friday, the National Weather Service said.

Some portions of the northern Midlands could get one or two inches of snow, but about half an inch is possible in the Columbia area, according to the watch.

One tenth to a quarter inch of ice accumulation is also possible, the National Weather Service said.

Ice accumulation of a quarter inch was common across the Midlands during freezing rain that happened last Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Higher amounts were recorded in areas with prolonged exposure to freezing rain.

If enough ice or snow accumulates this time, that could again cause considerable damage to trees and branches, which creates the possibility of more downed power lines and outages.

More than 100,000 outages were reported by power customers in South Carolina last Sunday, and nearly half of those were in the Midlands.

Freezing rain, sleet, or snow can cause safety issues on the roads. The National Weather Service said to plan on slippery and hazardous road conditions.

“The timing of this storm isn’t great because there will be freezing rain during rush hour on Friday,” Gropp said.

Last weekend drivers were asked to stay off the roads if possible. That request could be issued again.

Black ice will be a threat late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, as there could be freezing, followed by warmer temperatures, and more freezing, the National Weather Service said.

Black ice is difficult to see and makes roads very slippery, especially bridges and overpasses. Black ice forms when snow or light rain falls on frozen concrete or asphalt, freezing quickly to form a layer of ice that is almost invisible against the backdrop of blacktop roads.

“Stay weather aware,” Gropp warned.

This would be the second winter storm in less than a week after a warmer than normal December and early January.

While rain and freezing rain were the predominant forms of precipitation in the storm last Sunday, a trace amount of snow was confirmed at Columbia Metropolitan Airport, according to the National Weather Service. That marked the first time since Jan. 16, 2018, that snow was recorded in Columbia.

The last measurable snowfall at the airport was on Jan. 6, 2017, when about a tenth of an inch was recorded, the National Weather Service said.

This story was originally published January 19, 2022 12:14 PM.

Freezing rain associated with a developing storm off the coast could bring slippery conditions later on Friday. Some snowflakes are possible out west.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Winter weather is expected late Friday morning through Friday overnight. A period of icing from freezing rain is possible in the eastern and central Midlands, with a more limited area seeing some accumulating snow late in the day Friday into the early morning hours on Saturday.

On Early Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Watch for the South Carolina Midlands. The watch is in effect from Friday morning into Saturday morning. A Winter Storm Watch means impacts from winter weather are possible and in the forecast.

What to Expect

Light rain showers and mild temperatures are expected on Thursday as a stationary front slowly moves through the Midlands. Temperatures will stay in the 50s for much of the day under generally cloudy skies.

Early Friday morning, the stationary front will move off the coast and temperatures behind the front will drop below freezing across the Midlands. Dry air will initially move in so precipitation is not expected to be widespread early in the morning.

However, late Friday morning, a developing area of low pressure to our east along the stalled stationary front off the coast will increase the moisture profile in the atmosphere. This brings the chance for precipitation back into the area from late Friday morning through the evening. Temperatures should be near or below freezing throughout the day on Friday; however, warmer air aloft will limit the precipitation type to freezing rain or sleet for most communities east of I-20.

Late Friday and into early Saturday morning, colder air will wrap around the departing system and light snow accumulations are possible, mainly in the north and western Midlands. Although there is the potential for some snow, the greater hazard with this storm system is for ice in the midlands.

The Winter Storm Watch includes Saluda, Lexington, Calhoun, Clarendon, Sumter, Richland, Newberry, Fairfield, Kershaw, and Lee counties in the Midlands. At this time Aiken and Orangeburg counties are not in the watch area. The National Weather Service expects ice accumulations somewhere in the watch area to reach up to 0.2" of an inch, which could create slippery roads and power outages and some snow accumulations up to 1".

Columbia lawyer Clark Dawson waited a decade to be on “Jeopardy!,” a game show she had watched with her family since she was a young girl.

Finally, the call came. But when she arrived at Sony Pictures in Culver City, California, on that early, early morning in November, Dawson had no idea she would “run into the buzzsaw that is Amy,” to use her own words.

Dawson was referring to Amy Schneider, a historic champion who has won for six weeks running now, accumulating more than $1 million in winnings. Schneider has the third most wins in show history and is fourth in money won.

Schneider is formidable, Dawson said. And genuinely kind.

Dawson’s episode aired last Thursday.

“Jeopardy!” films a week’s worth of shows on Mondays and the next week on Tuesdays, then takes a break.

Contestants pay for their own transportation to California as well as hotel and other expenses. The show does feed them lunch during a day that starts very early and sometimes goes to the evening.

All contestants for that particular week are there while all the shows are taped, and they all take part in a rehearsal to get used to the pace of the game and the all-powerful buzzer that allows a contestant to ring in and provide the answer to the clue.

Dawson said mastering the buzzer was the hardest part of it all. She suspects all three contestants on her show knew most of the answers, but buzzer timing was key.

Contestants cannot ring it before the host — in this case, the winningest Jeopardy champion of all time, Ken Jennings — finishes reading the clue. Lights on the sides of the game board tell contestants when they can ring in.

If they ring in too soon, their buzzer is locked for .25 seconds, more than enough time for someone else to answer, Dawson said.

Dawson felt that Schneider, after so many wins, was hardwired to know when to buzz.

Other behind-the-scenes observations Dawson made were the game board is closer to the contestants than appears on television, and the floor behind the podium moves up and down so no player appears taller than another.

And, Dawson said, Jennings is as nice in person as he is on television.

When Dawson says she’s been wanting to be on “Jeopardy!” for 10 years, she means that quite literally. She took the test each year and waited. Waited some more. Waited even longer.

When the call came, she missed it. She returned the call, got an answering machine. She thought it was probably just a call for more information. But no. It was the real deal. She flew to California within days.

Walking onto the Sony Pictures lot was strange, she said.

Heavy security, mask requirements, few people. She took a COVID-19 test sitting in an empty parking garage,

Dawson, who works as a real estate attorney for Rogers Townsend in Columbia, is married to Nathan Dawson, a state procurement officer, and they have three children. She is a graduate of Wofford College and the University of South Carolina School of Law.

They all watched the show at Clark Dawson’s parents’ house in Columbia, connected via Zoom to other family members in Woodruff and Spartanburg. Her grandmother, who has watched “Jeopardy!” since it began 50 years ago, was particularly proud.

Dawson’s mother is commercial real estate broker Mary Winters Teaster, and father Tom works for Dominion Energy.

Dawson said she didn’t do as well as she hoped, and that stings. She came in third with $3,995 after getting the final Jeopardy question about a Victor Hugo quote wrong.

Schneider ended that game with $32,800 after betting $4,000 and getting the answer correct. Schneider’s total winnings as of Thursday were $1,101,600. She won again on Friday.

Dawson has heard from many people since the show aired — some she knew and others she didn’t — that she did well.

“It was a really big bucket list for me,” she said.

Now, she’ll plan some vacations, including returning to her husband’s native Australia, and ride horses with one of her daughters.

She’s pleased to have been on the show despite Schneider “steamrolling all of us.”

“I had a front-row seat to history in my nerdy world,” she said. “It was my 15 minutes of fame.”

A trace amount of snow was recorded in Columbia over the weekend, and more snow could fall by the end of this week, according to the National Weather Service.

While snow is possible in the Midlands on Friday, the forecast shows there’s a good chance for more of the freezing rain that caused ice to accumulate over large swaths of South Carolina last Saturday and Sunday.

“Across the Columbia area we can expect a mixed bag of sleet and freezing rain,” National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Gropp told The State Tuesday. “There might be a little bit of snow. It depends if there will be enough moisture from a coastal storm to produce winter (precipitation).”

Whether it’s snow, ice, sleet, or a wintry mix of all three, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said it’s expecting another round of severe winter weather.

“This could be an impactful event, or it could be just rain or snow,” Gropp said. “The best case scenario would be a little snow. The worst case would be a prolonged period of freezing rain like last weekend.”

Ice accumulation of a quarter inch was common across the Midlands last Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Higher amounts were recorded in areas with prolonged exposure to freezing rain.

Whatever form the precipitation takes this time, the winter weather is expected to begin falling in the Midlands on Friday morning, National Weather Service meteorologists said in a briefing on the storm.

Regular rain is forecast to start Thursday night, when there’s a 60% chance of precipitation. Freezing rain is likely on Friday, and snow is a possibility overnight when temperatures could get as low as 24 degrees, the forecast shows.

The storm could last all day and into Saturday, but there’s a good amount of uncertainty about when the winter weather will move out of the area, according to Gropp.

There’s also uncertainty in the forecast about where the precipitation will primarily fall, and how much will accumulate. Gropp said the National Weather Service will have greater confidence in the forecast on Wednesday.

In spite of the uncertainty, the forecast shows the southern portion of the Midlands — including Columbia and Lexington counties — could be more affected by severe winter weather than they were last weekend, according to Gropp.

Areas in the northern Midlands — including parts of Newberry, Kershaw, Laurens, Fairfield, and Lancaster counties — were slammed by freezing rain and snow last weekend. But this time those areas are not expected to be as much of a target for winter weather.

But the residual impact of last weekend’s storm has left many there without power, and that issue could be exacerbated with the new round of winter weather, Gropp said.

More than 100,000 outages were reported by power customers in South Carolina last Sunday, and nearly half of those were in the Midlands.

As of 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, there were 15,583 outages reported in South Carolina by power companies including Dominion Energy, the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, and Duke Energy. Of those outages, 773 were in the Midlands.

If enough ice accumulates, that could again cause considerable damage to trees and branches, which creates the possibility of more downed power lines and outages.

Black ice is a threat again as well, as there could be freezing, followed by warmer temperatures, and more freezing, Gropp said.

Black ice is difficult to see and makes roads very slippery, especially bridges and overpasses. Black ice forms when snow or light rain falls on frozen concrete or asphalt, freezing quickly to form a layer of ice that is almost invisible against the backdrop of blacktop roads.

Freezing rain, sleet, or snow alone could cause safety issues on the roads. Last weekend drivers were asked to stay off the roads if possible. That request could be issued again.

While several inches of snow fell in the Upstate last weekend, a trace amount of snow was confirmed at Columbia Metropolitan Airport, according to the National Weather Service. That marked the first time since Jan. 16, 2018, that snow was recorded in Columbia.

The last measurable snowfall at the airport was on Jan. 6, 2017, when about a tenth of an inch was recorded, the National Weather Service said.

This story was originally published January 18, 2022 12:19 PM.