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Rapid Reaction: More Mixed Precipitation Blankets NC

Corey Davis

May 12, 2015

Slow-Moving Ana Brings Steady Rains to Eastern NC

Although three weeks remain until the traditional start of hurricane season, some recent activity in the Atlantic gave us the first named storm — Tropical Storm Ana — a bit earlier than usual. Ana’s life began as a disorganized collection of showers and thunderstorms associated with a weak low pressure system over the Bahamas. As…

May 4, 2015

April Showers Alleviate Lingering Dryness

After several months of dry weather in western North Carolina, April saw plenty of precipitation across that region along with above-normal temperatures across the state. Temperatures Trend Above Normal Our warm finish to March carried over into April, as the statewide average temperature of 59.31°F ranked as the 34th-warmest April since 1895. However, our average…

May 1, 2015

NC Extremes: Spring Freezes Prove Costly for Agriculture

This post is part of our year-long series about North Carolina’s weather extremes. May is generally associated with warming temperatures, springtime thunderstorms, and rain showers to feed emerging plants. But several times in recent history, including a record-setting event in early May of 1963, the onset of spring has been interrupted by a wintertime relic…

Apr 16, 2015

NC Extremes: April 2011 Tornado Outbreak One for the Records

This post is part of our year-long series about North Carolina’s weather extremes. One of North Carolina’s most widespread — and most recent — severe weather outbreaks came on April 16, 2011, when a line of storms encountered ideal environmental conditions to strengthen and spawn a record number of tornadoes across the state. A Severe…

Apr 1, 2015

March Warmed Up and Dried Out Across NC

We put the winter behind us last month as temperatures regularly hit the 60s and 70s, although we did endure some cooler days as well. Topsy-Turvy Temperatures A combination of warm and cool periods during March averaged out to near-normal temperatures across North Carolina. The statewide average temperature of 49.9°F ranked as the 56th-warmest March…

Mar 24, 2015

Winter Recap 2014-15: A Warm Start with a Frigid, Frozen Finish

Today we revisit North Carolina’s winter, including a seasonal summary, a review of predictions from folklore and our own winter outlook, and an ENSO update and outlook. Winter Summary The meteorological winter — December through February — finished as the 40th-coolest and 33rd-driest winter statewide out of 120 years of record. But the whole winter…

Mar 12, 2015

NC Extremes: Storm of the Century Smashed Snowfall Records

This post is part of our year-long series about North Carolina’s weather extremes. An old adage says that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. But what about the middle of the month? It’s often in between our big winter weather events and our springtime severe weather events. However, in…

Mar 2, 2015

Fe-BRRRR-uary Was Cold and Wintry in NC

February may be the shortest month, but we packed in plenty of cold weather and frozen precipitation during the past 28 days. Coldest February in 35+ Years If you were born in the 80s or later or have moved to North Carolina since then, this was probably the coldest February you’ve ever felt in this…

Feb 26, 2015

Rapid Reaction: More Mixed Precipitation Blankets NC

The third widespread wintry event in less than two weeks painted a familiar picture across the state: Snow falling to the north and west, rain to the southeast, and a narrow band of mixed precipitation in between. The low pressure system responsible for this event began taking shape earlier in the week, when an upper-level…