Three Hurricanes After Three Weeks of Leaps Winter Begins – North Carolina State Climate Office

Our weather has transitioned to a “new year, new me” approach through 2022, with the warm and dry pattern from late 2021 being replaced by a cooler and wetter pattern.

That included three influential winter storms – on 3 months 1, January 16and January 21 – that affected all corners of the state in one of the the most snowy months in several years.

January 3: Walking in winter

Unreasonable warmth from December overflow into the new year – with record highs in the 70s on New Year’s Day – but it was suddenly replaced by a cold air mass on the tumultuous first Monday of 2022.

Low pressure develops along with a strong cold front that morning, and that parallel created all-season weather in just 24 hours.

Rain started like rain and up to 4 inches in total in Raleigh. 2.05 inches in Elizabeth City making January 3 the wettest day there since August 4 of last year.

When cold air hits the front rear, the precipitation turns into snow, Accumulate up to 10 inches in Jonas Ridge in northern Burke County, with 1 to 3 inches in total north of Piedmont.

Windy conditions added to the risk that day when Old Man Winter blew down doors – and some trees and power lines. Among us ECONetgusts of more than 50 mph over the summits of Bearwallow Mountain, Frying Pan Mountain and Sassafras Mountain.

The highest gusts of nearly 58 mph occurred at Rock mountain station. A storm current moved through that area, even creating a pair of short-lived tornadoes that morning. One Tornado EF0 briefly touched in Harnett County, and minutes later, a EF1 hit northern Sampson County.

Along with snow-covered ground and wind damage, that January 3 system left behind much colder air. In just 24 hours, temperature plummeted 42 degrees in Wilmingtonfrom 72°F down to 30°F.

The start of winter may have been delayed, but it’s already started with a bang – and it’s just getting started.

January 16: A little bit of everything

Our next courtship of frozen rainfall comes nearly two weeks later when a storm Sunday produced a mixed bag of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain across the state on the 16th. January.

Low pressure moves up the coastline that afternoon brought a lot of moisture offshore, and the heaviest rainfall fell as it rained east of North Carolina, totaling more than 2 inches in the Central Coastal Plain.

That abundance of moisture was accompanied by a flow of warmer air in the lower atmosphere, which spoiled an all-snow show for Piedmont. The trio received a blanket of 3 to 5 inches of snow before turning to sleet, but they avoided freezing rain and another ice storm after a pair last February.

The triangle had a snowy morning before surface temperatures warmed above freezing and precipitation turned to rain that afternoon.

In the Sandhills, up to a quarter inch of freezing rain accumulates in Richmond County is made for more hazardous conditions. These areas were among the last to have power back on after the peak of Duke Energy’s 250,000 customers There is no electricity in the Carolinas.

For the first time in more than three years – since December 2018 storm – Charlotte there was at least an inch of snow on the ground, with 2.2 inches covered by a crust of sleet there.

The rain that falls is mostly snow in the Mountains, and the accumulation there is dramatic. Portions of Transylvania and Henderson counties are over a foot tall, while 10.4 inches in Asheville set a new daily recordand alone exceeds an average annual snowfall of 10.3 inches.

The northern slopes also get a lot of fresh flour. 20 inches of snow in Beech Mountain is the most in a day there since 24 inches above March 21, 2001.

While it hasn’t been a big snowfall – or snowfall – for some areas, places that have seen the white stuff have had one of their most significant events in several years.

January 21: The most populated coast

For those in the east that made it past the first two winter events with only downpours, the third event in our January trilogy is their chance to get in on the action.

With cold air already in place by the time the moisture moves in, and low pressure formed furtherThis is set as a major hurricane for the eastern part of the state.

The highest totals over 6 inches were in Pasquotank, Camden, and Currituck counties. CoCoRaHS Observers in Pasquotank County measure at most 8 inches on Saturday morning. For that part of the state, it was their biggest snowfall since Storm on Christmas Day in 2010.

A wide swath of the state, including Piedmont south and east, rose more than 2 inches. More than 4 inches in Fayetteville ended their recent “snow drought”. The last event with at least an inch of snow there was over four years ago, on January 3-4, 2018.

In Raleigh-Durham Airport, 2.3 inches cumulative, enough to create some hazardous travel conditions, and not just for cars. The plane lands slip off the taxiway and into the mudclosed the main runway and forced dozens of flights to be delayed or diverted while the faulty plane was recovered.

However, just like a winter storm in North Carolina, it’s not snowing for everyone. The southern and central coasts have almost only freezing rain, with ice accumulation up to half an inch in Newport and Richlands. The last major ice events in those areas were retrograde storms in 2014 in February 11th and February 13.

Lessons learned from January

These three storms helped make this January one of the snowiest months in recent memory. 6.4 inches in Greensboro more than they have in the past two winters combined and the most since a total of 12.8 inches in December 2018. Elizabeth City5.0 inches of is the most in a month since January 2014.

It has even been an unusually snowy month in the mountains. The Transou The site near Laurel Springs in Ashe County has accumulated 17 inches of snow this January, the highest monthly total since 22 inches in January 2000 – a similar winter month with four storms in a two-week window.

Last fall, we shared map of recent snows produce at least 1 inch, 6 inch and 12 inch statewide. At that time, even 1 inch map is a patchwork, reflecting a number of minor storms from recent years but few large-scale events.

The current map (above) looks much different. The events of January 16 and 21 covered nearly the entire state with at least an inch of snow, just missing a few spots along the coast.

Notably, areas of Brunswick and Columbus counties saw only one traces of snow and a quarter inch of ice since our latest storm has been waiting more than 11 years since their last one inch event.

Regardless of what form our rainfall falls into, it all has a positive effect on our drought condition. January started with more than 86% of states classified by the US Drought Monitoring Service as drought. In just three weeks, that number has dropped to 23% and the Severe Drought (D2) over the Sandhills has now disappeared due to recent rainfall.

Moderate drought (D1) remains in some areas 3 to 6 inches below normal rainfall from mid-Octoberand where deeper soil moisture not fully recovered.

However, whether they bring rain, sleet, snow or all of the above, three storms in January halted our drying conditions and, in some areas, left a world of winter elves in their wake.