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Winter Outlook 2025-26: A Seasonal Repeat in Store?

Climate Blog

A photo of snow on Grandfather Mountain on February 24, 2026

Mar 9, 2026

Snow Melted, But Severe Drought Continued in February

Snow and rain each fell in an overall dry February, which featured both winter chill and spring-like warmth. In one constant last month, drought continued with no improvements just yet. A Snowy Start, Then Weekly Rainfall Despite multiple precipitation events in both a frozen and a liquid form, February finished as another dry month for…
An aerial photo of Greenville, NC, after the snow on February 1, 2026

Feb 4, 2026

January’s Warm Start Flipped to a Frigid, Frozen Finish

The new year began with a memorable weather month, including an arriving chill and a wintry conclusion, which changed the landscape of our latest snow events. Temperatures in Freefall After warmer weather initially, a late-month chill put January’s temperatures slightly below normal overall. The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) reports a preliminary statewide average…
A photo of a snowplow in deep snow outside the National Weather Service office in Newport, NC

Feb 2, 2026

Rapid Reaction: A Statewide Snowstorm for the Ages

Accumulating snow fell all across North Carolina last weekend in our most widespread wintry event in more than a dozen years, and the biggest snow for some areas in several decades. While this event had a classic Carolina snowstorm setup, it was anything but a garden variety winter storm, following an ideal pattern for significant…
A photo of ice-covered trees in Transylvania County on January 25, 2026

Jan 26, 2026

Rapid Reaction: Weekend Winter Storm Brings Icy Glaze, But Few Outages

A winter storm with an icy, damaging history dealt a relatively minor blow to North Carolina last weekend, leaving a slippery glaze but limited power outages in its wake. After an Arctic front arrived on Friday night to set up a frigid air mass – including afternoon temperatures only in the 20s on Saturday –…
A photo of smoke from a wildfire near Banner Elk, NC, in November 2025

Jan 20, 2026

The Weather Year in Review: Dry Days, Plus a Few Storms, in 2025

It’s a climate conundrum: how can a year characterized by overall dry weather be most notable for its big precipitation events? That’s the reality of 2025 in North Carolina, which featured persistent drought as well as the return of snowfall, welcome spring rains for agriculture, and a solitary soaking from the tropics. As part of…
A photo of clouds over Pinehurst Resort on December 26

Jan 7, 2026

A Divided December Started Cold, Then Heated Up

December delivered mixed temperatures throughout the month, along with more dry weather and drought in central and western North Carolina. It also left us with a few more records to tally from 2025. From Wintry to Warm in One Month Balanced between a chilly start and a warmer finish, our December temperatures were near-normal overall…
A photo of snow on the ground and on a decorated tree next to the Pasquotank River in Elizabeth City

Dec 18, 2025

A Dream Come True: Remembering Our White Christmas in 2010

One of North Carolina’s rarest weather events became a reality 15 years ago as a White Christmas unfolded across the state. A two-part event on December 25 and 26, 2010, left snow falling in all 100 counties and more than a foot on the ground in parts of the Mountains and northern Coastal Plain. With…
A photo of snow on the ground in Beaufort County on the morning of November 11

Dec 3, 2025

Digesting a Dry November, and More from Last Month

On our table in November, our cup didn’t exactly runneth over as dry weather continued, but it was a fittingly fall-like month – aside from an early bite of winter with a mid-month snow event. Dry Turkey: Another Precipitation Deviation Rain didn’t have a regular place at the table again last month, which was drier…
A photo of snow on a road and sidewalk in Raleigh, NC, on January 10, 2025

Nov 19, 2025

Winter Outlook 2025-26: A Seasonal Repeat in Store?

It’s said that no two snowflakes are alike — and science backs that up — but could we see two winters following the same template in back-to-back years? Early signs among the ocean and atmosphere are showing similar setups to last winter, which was dry overall but with multiple wintry events affecting all parts of…