Brewing nor’easter drops 40+ cm of snow in rare southern storm
The biggest winter storm in a generation hit parts of the southeastern U.S. this weekend as a major nor’easter brewed off the coast
A historic snowfall event blanketed North Carolina this weekend with the most snow some areas have seen in almost 40 years. This is the same system expected to strike Atlantic Canada as a major nor’easter through Tuesday.
The event disrupted travel across the state, cancelling the majority of flights Saturday and resulting in more than 1,100 vehicle accidents.
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Saturday’s rare heavy snowfall in the Carolinas was actually two snow events unfolding at the same time.
An upper-level low swinging in from the west helped whip up snow in the Appalachians and foothills. This trough helped give rise to a powerful nor’easter which sparked another batch of heavy snow along the coast.
Some communities saw 30-40+ cm of snowfall, which is a high-end event for this part of the world.
Charlotte picked up 26.7 cm of accumulation. This was Charlotte’s fourth-largest one-day snowfall total since records began in 1878, and the city’s largest snowstorm since Feb. 2004.
Greensboro saw 23.8 cm of snow from the system, making for the city’s sixth-largest one-day snowfall since 1903.
Even more impressive totals occurred along the coast, where blizzard conditions were reported on the Outer Banks. The city of Wilmington saw 14.7 cm of snow, which was their largest snowfall event since Dec. 1989.
The highest total in the mountains reached 57.2 cm near the town of Faust, while a measurement near Emerald Isle on the coast notched the region's highest amount at 49.5 cm.
Impacts to last for days
The storm resulted in widespread travel impacts.
Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, which is one of the country’s largest hubs, saw the majority of its flights cancelled on Saturday. Additional delays and cancellations are likely in the days ahead as airlines recover from the disruption.
N.C. State Highway Patrol reported that its officers responded to more than 1,100 accidents during and after the storm, which resulted in at least two fatalities.
The storm will compound frustration among residents throughout the state, many of whom had already been stuck in their neighbourhoods since an ice storm last weekend.
Significantly below-seasonal temperatures behind the storm will create excess demand on the region’s power grid by Monday morning.
“Several days of sustained temperatures below freezing are driving unusually high energy demand in our area and available power supplies are currently very limited,” North Carolina’s largest power company said in a message sent to customers on Sunday. Rolling blackouts are possible during the highest demand.
Cold temperatures stretched all the way to Florida on Sunday morning. Snow flurries were reported south of Tampa, while lows in Orlando (-4.4°C) and Miami (1.1°C) each reached their coldest point since 2010.
Header image courtesy of the N.C. State Highway Patrol via Facebook.