02/02/2026
Here's the Climate Office report of this weekend's snowstorm:
https://climate.ncsu.edu/blog/2026/02/rapid-reaction-a-statewide-snowstorm-for-the-ages/
This is a great assessment of the impact of this weekend's storm and the map clearly shows how the snow depths varied over the state. One meteorologist I saw on TV even said that the amount of snow coupled with the high winds at the coast qualified that area as being an official blizzard, something we often think only occurs in the midwest.
However, I have a problem with calling this a Snowstorm for the Ages. Perhaps its statewide range (all 100 counties had measurable snow amounts, and some coastal areas had more snow than the mountains, a highly unusual occurrence) allows this descriptor to be true. And it was cold. Saturday morning it was 1.2F at my house, and meteorologists estimated a windchill of -25F. So maybe statewide, it was a cold for the ages.
But neither the amounts of snow nor the cold temperatures were record setting in many locations. I admit that some areas may have set new records, but many did not.
For example, on January 21, 1985 it got down to -24F with a windchill estimated to be -60F in Boone. It was even worse on Mt. Mitchell (-34F with perhaps -95F windchill).
From March 12-14, 1993, Boone got ~33" of snow, which is the most ever in one storm and it was called The Storm of the Century, which I think is apt to this day.
On January 26, 1998, Boone got its heaviest one day total of 19" and in 1960, the region had a seasonal total of 83" of snow, making it the snowiest on record.
Note: my weather records are courtesy of AI, and we all know that can have problems with accuracy. But I was here for the 1993 storm and can attest to the snow depth, and I was in Georgia in 1985 and can attest to those low temps (the high in Athens, GA back then was 0F and the low was -10F!). So, I think these reported records are valid.
Now, maybe this current storm was more widespread than previous ones, and maybe on average over the entire state was colder than most, but for Boone, it doesn't come close to being one for the ages. Better to call this storm one for the 2020s.
Accumulating snow fell all across North Carolina last weekend in our most widespread wintry event in more than a dozen years, and the biggest snow for some areas in several decades. While this event had a classic Carolina snowstorm setup, it was anything but a garden variety winter storm, following....
