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Climate Summary: 2012 By the Numbers

Corey Davis

Sep 5, 2013

Century Since the Storm: Moment of Impact

This is the third part of our weeklong blog post series Century Since the Storm. Early on the morning of September 3rd, 1913, just before 4 a.m., the storm made landfall as a category 1 hurricane near Cape Lookout. The worst damage along the Outer Banks occurred north of Cape Lookout, which was within the…

Sep 4, 2013

Century Since the Storm: Forecasting the Fury

This is the second part of our weeklong blog post series Century Since the Storm. One of the greatest meteorological advances since 1913 is our improved ability to track and forecast hurricanes. These days, it is quite literally down to a science: Geostationary satellites observe systems from their birth as tropical thunderstorm clusters, reconnaissance aircraft…

Sep 3, 2013

Century Since the Storm: Story of the Storm

When you think about memorable hurricanes in North Carolina, names like Fran, Floyd, Isabel, and Irene might come to mind. Perhaps you even remember older storms, such as Hazel and Connie, that caused severe damage along the coast. But prior to these storms, before hurricanes were monitored by satellites or even given names, another significant…

Jul 9, 2013

Death Valley Ready to Remember a Temperature Record

On Wednesday, Death Valley, CA, should be a little livelier than usual as crowds are expected to come and celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the world’s hottest recorded temperature. On July 10th, 1913, the mercury skyrocketed to 134°F at the appropriately named Furnace Creek. Note: Since this post was originally published, this Death Valley record…

Jun 18, 2013

Nothing Could Be Finer: A Look Back at our Seasonable Spring

As anyone who spent time outdoors over the past few months can attest, the idyllic spring of 2013 is one for the memory banks, and it turns out that it’s also one for the record books. The preliminary rankings show this spring was the 7th coldest and 50th driest on record for North Carolina. That…

May 7, 2013

Winter El Niño Events Often Take Root in the Spring

Although our winter just ended, the weather conditions half a world away in the western Pacific Ocean may already be shaping how our next winter will turn out. Yes, December is still seven months away, but an analysis of years that developed a wintertime El Niño pattern — which often leads to cooler and wetter…

Apr 5, 2013

Winter 2012-13 Recap

Back in December, we released our winter outlook that included our own winter forecast and the predictions of the woolly worm, farmers’ almanacs, and two important global climate patterns. A little over three months later, the winter has now wrapped up, giving us a chance to review the winter and these predictions. ENSO’s Impacts (or…

Mar 12, 2013

CCMMS Students Return to Research at the SCO

For a few hours every week since October, the State Climate Office has welcomed two additional researchers: Miles Hunt and Maggie Loughlin, both eighth-grade students at Centennial Campus Magnet Middle School, who participated in the annual internship program now in its ninth year. Continuing in the tradition of past interns, Miles and Maggie each conducted…

Feb 6, 2013

Climate Summary: 2012 By the Numbers

Now that all the numbers are in, we have sense as to how 2012 fits into our climate history for North Carolina. The statewide average annual precipitation of 46.2 inches ranked as the 32nd driest since 1895, and the average temperature of 60.35°F ranked as the 6th warmest since 1895. Here are some other interesting…