Skip to main content
Winter Recap 2017-18: A Season of Surprises

snow

Mar 4, 2020

A Warm February Split by Mid-Month Snow

Our warm winter continued in February with generally above-normal temperatures, although we did see cold and snow during the month. It was a wet month overall with some severe storms mixed in. Cold Air Remains Rare This Winter Mild weather continued through most of February, and the numbers reflect just how warm it was in…

Feb 6, 2020

January Extends a Warm Winter and Expands Coastal Dryness

Cold air continued to stay away from North Carolina this winter in another warm month. Precipitation spanned the spectrum from wet to dry in January, but few areas saw any wintry weather as snowless streaks continued. The Winter That Wasn’t Data from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) shows that last month’s statewide average…

Dec 9, 2019

A Decade in Review: The 2010s

Over the next two weeks, we’ll close out this year and decade with a look back at how the 2010s played out weather-wise in North Carolina. From statewide snowstorms to memorable hurricanes to drought progression and its impacts, we will highlight the big events and weather storylines that wove through our year-to-year weather and climate.…

Nov 19, 2019

Winter Pattern Update: What Does ENSO Neutral Mean for NC?

This is the first part of our annual winter outlook series. Our outlook will be released on Thursday, November 21. When assessing our likely wintertime weather conditions, we often start with ENSO, or the El Niño/Southern Oscillation. This pattern, which describes the cyclical warming and cooling of sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific Ocean…

Apr 2, 2019

Spring’s Slow March Leaves Winter Behind

Steadily warming temperatures throughout March, as well as a dry and mostly snow-free month, mean spring is upon us. In this post, we also look back at the winter and review our pre-season predictions. Temperatures Cool But Increasing The onset of spring slowly became apparent over the past month, although it was still a cooler-than-normal…

Dec 11, 2018

Rapid Reaction: A Season’s Worth of Snow in One Day

We didn’t have to wait long this winter to see our first major snow event in North Carolina. The second weekend of December brought significant accumulating snowfall to many areas and a wintry mix across parts of the Piedmont. While the early-season timing of this event was a bit uncommon, the setup for the storm…

Nov 15, 2018

The SCOfficial 2018-19 Winter Outlook

In our previous post, we described the atmospheric patterns that could affect the northern hemisphere jet streams — and therefore our weather — this winter. To recap, an emerging El Niño is likely to have the greatest impact, with wetter-than-normal conditions expected due to its strengthening of the subtropical jet stream. One ENSO-related wildcard is…

Apr 1, 2018

Winter Roars Back in a Lion-Like March

This month’s climate summary highlights our turbulent March that included some springtime snow, cool and windy weather, and a new sensor to help track heat stress on the human body. Spring Starts with Snow, Variable Rainfall In March, some parts of North Carolina received drought-relieving rain and snow while others saw more limited precipitation. Overall,…

Mar 26, 2018

Winter Recap 2017-18: A Season of Surprises

It was the winter that kept us guessing. Just when we thought our warm fall would persist into 2018, a record-setting cold snap ensued. We thought the large-scale pattern wouldn’t be favorable for wintry weather, yet most of North Carolina received above-normal snowfall. And amid indicators of ongoing dry weather, we actually came out of…