The tropics have another surprise this season with Hurricane Nicole, which brought wet and windy weather as its ruins passed North Carolina last weekend.
Nicole is the 14th named storm of the year, matching 30 years on average for the basin. While 2022 is predicted to have operating above normala lull of nearly two months in July and August finally limited the potential of this season even as prices rose towards the end of the season, including Hurricane Lisa and Hurricane Martin in the past three weeks.
Nicole initially formed as a subtropical storm – a mixed system that includes several elements of a tropical storm, such as circulation around the center of the depression, as well as nontropical features such as a Eyes wide open with clouds and rain extending far from the center.
It eventually moved over warmer waters near the Bahamas and became a complete tropical system, even reaching Category 1 hurricane intensity before that. hit the Florida coast on Thursday.
However, it still retains some subtropical features such as a major hurricane with tropical storm-like winds 450 miles from the center of circulation when it made landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center.
That means its impact was felt across North Carolina as it moved through the night of Thursday and Friday.
Rainy weather in NC
Nicole has brought at least half an inch of rain statewide, which is welcome relief for areas that have seen the onset of drought in recent weeks.
The highest totals occur along the Blue Ridge Cliffs, where moist air blows up the mountainside as southeasterly winds produce more than 4 inches of precipitation. Ours Mount Mitchell The ECONet station measured a two-day total of 7.73 inches, the heaviest rainfall from a single storm there since the upper-level low-pressure system in May 2020.
Nicole also experienced a two-month dry spell for much of the west with almost no rain from Hurricane Ian at the end of September. As of September 11, Asheville the airport received only 1.54 inches of rain and 5 inches below normal. 2.79 inches from Nicole effectively cut that deficit in half.
While some flash flood warnings have been issued in the mountains, river flooding has been limited, largely because stream flows have been reduced too much during the ongoing drought. Notably, the French Broad River at Blantyre for a short time reach the action stage when it peaks late Friday and early Saturday.
However, not all drought-affected areas receive such high rainfall. Graham and Swain counties, including the Great Smoky Mountains, received less than an inch of rain as the storm’s moisture mainly escaped on the slopes farther east. City of Bryson received only 0.85 inches from Nicole and remained mired in the 2nd driest fall since 2011.
Elsewhere, rainfall totaled 1 to 2 inches across the Piedmont and Sandhills, including 1.98 inches in Greensboro and 2.06 inches in Laurinburg. In eastern North Carolina, totals typically range from half an inch to an inch and a half. 0.92 inches in Wilmington was the first heavy downpour there since Ian over a month ago.
Wind was not a common problem for Nicole; on friday morning, less than 3,000 outages have been reported in North Carolina, compared with a peak of more than 360,000 during the Ian period. However, there are some strong wind conditions especially in the west. One mile on top Grandfather Mountaingusts of up to 56 mph at 6:28 p.m. Friday.
Nicole’s ultimate threat is the risk of thunderstorm-related tornadoes in its outer rain bands. The eastern half of the state is under tornado clock on Friday morning, and funnel clouds were spotted near City of Siler and Franklinton. As of this writing, the National Weather Service has not confirmed any tornadoes involving Nicole in North Carolina.
Nicole In the midst of historic storms
The passage taken by Nicole, from the landing along the east coast of Florida to the inland movement through western North Carolina, is similar to Jeanne in 2004. However, the impact of that storm was much more pronounced than that of Nicole’s. Jeanne is third tropical system in a month drenched the Mountains, and September of that year ended with more torrential downpours to end the wettest month on record in several western localities.
Tropical systems affecting North Carolina later this year are a fairly common event. One Report 2007 by James Hudgins at the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg recorded just seven days in November of tropical cyclone activity in North Carolina over the previous two centuries. That compares with 119 such days in September – our most climatologically active month of hurricane season.
The last storm to affect us in November, and perhaps our most influential November storm, was Tropical Storm Eta in 2020. While the heart of Eta never reached North Carolina, moisture from the storm entered before a cold snap and produced up to 9 inches of rain, causing flooding problems west of Piedmont and northern Coastal Plain.
While the rains from Nicole are less intense than those from Eta, they are generally beneficial to our recent dry spell as well. That makes it a well-timed storm at an unusual time of year.
