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State Fair Climatology: A Fall-Like Feel, Rarely a Washout

Climate Blog

Nov 23, 2015

The SCOfficial 2015-16 Winter Outlook

This year’s Winter Outlook series concludes with the official outlook from our office. Over the past two weeks, we’ve laid out the puzzle pieces for this year’s Winter Outlook. Now we’re ready to put them together and outline our predictions for the coming winter. First, let’s review the background from our Outlook posts so far:…

Nov 19, 2015

Analog Winters Help Show the Possibilities for This Year

Our Winter Outlook series has already covered the latest on El Niño and polar patterns. Today’s post looks at past years with similar conditions to see how those winters turned out and what it means for this year. Like the snowflakes that can seem so rare around these parts, every winter is different in North…

Nov 17, 2015

Polar Patterns Could Open the Gates for Cold, Wintry Weather

As our Winter Outlook series continues, we turn our attention to the polar jet stream, which will largely determine how much of this winter’s precipitation will fall in a frozen form and how cold our temperatures might get. In many ways, the polar jet stream — controlled by the now-infamous polar vortex — can be…

Nov 12, 2015

Strong El Niño Drives Pacific Patterns, Jet Stream Impacts

The second post in our 2015-16 Winter Outlook series turns to the Pacific Ocean for an update on El Niño and its possible impacts to North Carolina this winter. Over the past nine months, the waters of the equatorial Pacific Ocean have been warming and one of the strongest El Niño events on record has…

Nov 10, 2015

Woolly Worms, Almanacs, and August Weather Predict the Winter

Our 2015-16 Winter Outlook series begins today and concludes on November 23rd. In these five posts, we will discuss predictions and patterns that may shape North Carolina’s winter weather. Folklore is a popular source for predictions about the weather, and North Carolina has a rich collection of winter weather folklore, ranging from insects to almanacs…

Nov 5, 2015

NC Extremes: 2007’s Drought Emerged Quickly, Affected Millions in NC

This post is part of our year-long series about North Carolina’s weather extremes. In some of the extreme weather events we’ve covered this year, there were dramatic impacts like an 18-foot storm surge or a line of damaging tornadoes. Other events had a clear peak, like when morning lows dropped below zero on “the Coldest…

Nov 2, 2015

October’s Soggy Start Gives Way to a Fall-Like Finish

After record-setting rainfall early in the month, seasonable high temperatures took over for the rest of October. Seasonable Temperatures Reign After leaving the 80s and 90s behind in September, we kept high temperatures in the 60s and 70s for most of October, making for fall-like afternoons across the state. In Rocky Mount, the average high…

Oct 30, 2015

Fall Colors Set to Emerge, With Help from the Weather

Lawn mowers are being replaced by leaf blowers in the autumn yard work routine. Whether you are in western NC or on the coast, you will experience of some degree of festive foliage in your area. But what exactly causes this change, and why do the mountains experience it earlier? The answer is simple: trees…

Oct 15, 2015

State Fair Climatology: A Fall-Like Feel, Rarely a Washout

It’s that time of the year again: Time for rides and games, time for turkey legs and funnel cake. Yes, the North Carolina State Fair starts today! The Fair has a rich history dating back to its beginning in 1853. It started as a four-day event but now runs over 11 days with plenty of…