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Q&A: Our Record Warmest Year in 2019

Kathie Dello

A photo of debris along the Swannanoa River in Biltmore Village following Hurricane Helene

Jan 21, 2025

The Weather Year in Review: Heat, Helene, and Weather Whiplash in 2024

This post is a summary of our recent Year in Review webinar. The recording from that event will be posted soon, and the presentation slides are now available. North Carolina’s weather in 2024 featured the costliest and deadliest tropical storm in our state’s history; that alone made it a notable year. But beyond Hurricane Helene,…
A graph of monthly temperature departures from the 1901 to 2000 average for North Carolina in 2023

Jan 16, 2024

The Weather Year in Review: The Yin and Yang of 2023

Characterized by evolving large-scale patterns and a variety of conditions across North Carolina, from wet to dry and smoky to stormy, 2023 was an interesting and impactful year in our local weather and climate. As part of our annual wrap-up, this post summarizes our 2023 Year in Review webinar. The recording is available on YouTube,…
A photo of sunshine over the ocean along the Crystal Coast

Jan 17, 2023

The Weather Year in Review: Familiar Patterns with New Twists in 2022

It was a year that started and ended with totally out-of-season weather, and included just about every extreme in between, from hot to cold, wet to dry, and frozen to fire. Ultimately, 2022 was the product of both persistent climate patterns and trends that have become familiar in recent years, along with the return of…
A photograph of the Bodie Island lighthouse

Jan 18, 2022

From Deluges to Droughts in 2021: the Weather Year in Review

Whether wet or dry, Mother Nature just couldn’t make up her mind in North Carolina last year. While 2021 was not particularly extreme in the final temperature or precipitation rankings, it was notable for the drastic seasonal swings between wet and dry weather and their impacts, from devastating floods to fire-sparking droughts. The Year By…
The June 2021 precipitation summary infographic, highlighting the monthly average temperature, departure from normal, and comparison to historical and recent years

Jul 2, 2021

Rainfall Extremes in June Jumble the State Drought Map

While the rain reigned in eastern North Carolina last month, the western Piedmont stayed dry and has seen a degradation on the state drought map. Plus, how do our temperatures compare to the recent records out west? From Really Dry to Record Wet In some months, a statewide average acts as a good representation for…

Jan 2, 2021

An Extreme, Unusual 2020: the Weather Year in Review

The unprecedented aspects of 2020 included our climate in North Carolina, which the statistics show was an extreme year in our modern history. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, 2020 was our 2nd-wettest year on record and tied for our 3rd-warmest year on record dating back to 1895. That makes 2020 the only time in the past 126…

Aug 13, 2020

Join Us for Climate-Conscious NC!

Happy August! For those of you that don’t know me yet, my name is Kathie Dello and I’m the State Climatologist and Director of the State Climate Office. I was on the job for 8 months before we were sent into quarantine. My preferred engagement model — visit folks where they are, listen, and then…
NCCSR Cover

Mar 11, 2020

North Carolina Climate Science Report Plain Language Summary

For the past 8 months, our office has been involved in writing the North Carolina Climate Science Report, the first report of its kind for the state of North Carolina. This report was produced at the request of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality as part of the state’s response to Governor Cooper’s Executive…

Jan 8, 2020

Q&A: Our Record Warmest Year in 2019

Those warm days in late December when temperatures touched the 70s didn’t just make you pull out the sandals for holiday break. They also helped 2019 secure the title of North Carolina’s warmest year on record. Our record-setting year was confirmed today by our colleagues in Asheville at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National…