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Rapid Reaction: More Mixed Precipitation Blankets NC

Climate Blog

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 26, 2015

Heavy Rain by Any Other Name Still Has an Impact

We conclude our series on CoCoRaHS March Madness with some perspective on heavy rain events and how CoCoRaHS observations are used. Heavy rain goes by many names: “frog-strangler”, “gully-washer”, “raining cats and dogs”, and “raining to beat the band”, just to name a few. No matter what name you give it, precipitation in all forms…

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 19, 2015

Two NC CoCoRaHS Observers Share Their Stories

We continue our series on CoCoRaHS March Madness with profiles of two observers in North Carolina. Are you cuckoo for CoCoRaHS?! These two North Carolinians are: Jessica Lowman, a teacher in Lenoir County, and Ed Barrows of Wake County, one of our state’s longest reporting volunteers! Although before we get to that, you might be…

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 10, 2015

Let the CoCoRaHS March Madness Begin!

This post is the first in a series focusing on the CoCoRaHS network and the 2015 March Madness campaign. More rain is on the way for North Carolina this week, and the return of warmer temperatures as winter gives way to spring will yield greater variability in precipitation amounts as the potential for thunderstorm activity…

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…