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Rapid Reaction: Michael Whips Up Winds and Widespread Damage

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Nov 2, 2020

October Spooked by Zeta’s Dying Breaths and Frightful Foggy Mornings

The past month included wet, windy weather along with warm temperatures and higher dew points that helped fog bedevil our October dawns. Dark and Stormy Nights (and Days) Multiple rainfall events including the remnants of two hurricanes drenched western North Carolina as part of an overall wet month. The National Centers for Environmental Information reports a preliminary statewide average precipitation…

May 8, 2020

Showers Soak the State During a Stormy April

Plenty of April showers made for a wet month in North Carolina, and our weather pattern was also a cooler one with some gusty winds for good measure. Wet and Severe Weather Rain was widespread last month, giving an overall wet April across almost the entire state. The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) reports…

Oct 15, 2019

Was Hazel North Carolina’s Worst-Case Hurricane?

This is the final post in our “Stormy Summer” series looking back at some memorable hurricane anniversaries occurring in 2019. No discussion about North Carolina’s significant historical hurricanes is complete without including Hazel, which hit the state 65 years ago today. In terms of intensity, Hazel is in a league of its own. Despite our…

Sep 23, 2019

How Howling Hugo Became the Western Piedmont’s Worst Hurricane

This is the fourth post in our “Stormy Summer” series looking back at some memorable hurricane anniversaries occurring in 2019. Well inland from the tempest-tossed coastline, one part of North Carolina would seem to be a safe haven from the hazards of hurricanes. The western Piedmont is at least a three-hour drive from the closest…

Sep 23, 2019

For Duke Energy, No Shelter from Hugo’s Storm

Thirty years ago, Hurricane Hugo tested nearly every aspect of our infrastructure in the Carolinas. Trees and power lines snapped in the storm’s winds, cutting off the electricity that powered everything from water pumps to gas pumps. At the coast, roads and boardwalks were scoured away by the storm surge. Flash flooding in the Mountains…

Sep 16, 2019

Floyd’s Flooding Overwhelmed Eastern North Carolina

This is the third post in our “Stormy Summer” series looking back at some memorable hurricane anniversaries occurring in 2019. Out of almost 150 years of recorded hurricanes in North Carolina through 1999, none were quite like Floyd. When the sixth named storm of the 1999 season arrived at our coast twenty years ago today,…

Aug 19, 2019

Few Traces Remain from “Wild and Terrific” 19th-Century Hurricanes

This is the first post in our “Stormy Summer” series looking back at some memorable hurricane anniversaries occurring in 2019. More than 100 years ago, two hurricanes twenty years apart tore up the North Carolina coast with little warning and a devastating impact along the Outer Banks. That lack of advanced notice is unusual for…

Mar 4, 2019

Few Signs of Winter in a Warm, Wet February

Our recent trend of warm Februarys continued last month with above-normal temperatures across the state. The western part of the state also saw record-breaking wet and windy weather, while parts of the southern coast dried out. Un-Winterlike Warmth February is the final month of meteorological winter, but based on our temperatures last month, you might…

Oct 12, 2018

Rapid Reaction: Michael Whips Up Winds and Widespread Damage

Less than a month removed from Florence, North Carolina has now weathered another hit from a hurricane. This time, though, it was the Piedmont — not the coast — that bore the brunt of the damage in our state. In Florence’s case, we noted that it had few equals in our hurricane history because of…