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Postcards from Fran: Beyond-Belief Stories from the Coast

hurricanes

Jul 3, 2018

June Sees Sizzling Summer Heat Stick Around

Mother Nature turned up the thermostat last month, giving us a particularly steamy start to the summer. Our latest climate summary takes a look at the past month’s weather, including our warm temperatures, areas of increasing dryness, and tropical activity — or lack thereof. Hot Weather from Summits to Sounds High pressure systems taking a…

Sep 13, 2017

Rapid Reaction: Irma Brings Wet, Windy Weather to Western NC

Last week, Hurricane Irma crossed the central Atlantic at Category-5 strength with maximum sustained winds of 184 mph — surpassed by only one known storm in this part of the world, Hurricane Allen in 1980. If that wasn’t enough to capture your attention, model forecasts briefly showed the coast of North Carolina right in Irma’s…

Jul 18, 2017

Five Burning Questions about the Second Half of 2017

We’re halfway through 2017, which means winter and spring are history and we’re at roughly the midway point of the summer. As we look ahead to the rest of the year, here are five questions we’re contemplating about North Carolina’s weather. 1. When Will the Extreme Heat Hit? This summer started with a cool June…

Mar 8, 2017

Extreme Events from the Past Year, as Told by CoCoRaHS Reports

North Carolina had some impactful weather events over the past 12 months, from intense summer storms to powerful tropical systems along the coast to a snowstorm earlier this year. In each of these events, CoCoRaHS observers across the state helped us gain a better perspective about how much precipitation fell than we otherwise might have…

Oct 10, 2016

Rapid Reaction: Matthew’s Mark on NC Includes Heavy Rain, Flooding

Hurricane Matthew won’t go down in the record books as a landfalling storm in North Carolina. At Category-1 strength as it grazed the coastline, it also won’t rank highly among the strongest storms to affect our state. However, its widespread impacts packed a punch that few other storms in our state’s history can match. North…

Oct 4, 2016

September Rains Soak the Coast While the West Remains Dry

While the entire state of North Carolina continued to see above-normal temperatures last month, there was a big difference in precipitation from east to west. Summer Heat Wanes, But Warm Weather Continues Last month, we transitioned from the summer to the fall, but our temperatures haven’t exactly been in a hurry to respond to the…

Sep 6, 2016

Postcards from Fran: Toppled Trees and the Smell of Sawdust

This account of Hurricane Fran in Raleigh comes from Jim Epps, an instrument technician at the State Climate Office. In the summer of 1996, I was working in the Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences Department at NC State University. Being surrounded by atmospheric scientists as we entered the heart of hurricane season, I naturally was…

Sep 6, 2016

Postcards from Fran: Fuel for Fires and Sustenance for Soldiers

This account of Hurricane Fran in Fayetteville comes from Geneva Gray, a graduate research assistant at the State Climate Office. Hurricane Fran wreaked havoc across the Coastal Plain and Piedmont just weeks after I started Kindergarten. My younger brother and I were 3 and 5 years old, respectively, and we watched my parents frantically prepare…

Sep 6, 2016

Postcards from Fran: Beyond-Belief Stories from the Coast

These memories from Hurricane Fran along the coast come from news articles written after the storm. North Carolina’s coast bore the brunt of Hurricane Fran, and from the extreme wind and water emerged some amazing stories that almost sound too wild to be true. Although most coastal residents evacuated, those that stayed for the storm…