NORTH CAROLINA — A single February storm producing around a foot of snow in North Carolina is uncommon, but it is not unprecedented, according to the National Weather Service.
Past events and long-term snowfall records show that, under the right atmospheric setup, one winter system can deliver double-digit totals—especially in the Piedmont, foothills, and higher elevations of the Blue Ridge.
North Carolina’s geography plays a major role in where heavy snow is most likely. The mountains typically see the most frequent and highest snow totals, while the Coastal Plain and immediate coast usually see far less snow in an average winter. In central North Carolina, many winters feature little to no measurable snow, yet occasional storms still produce significant, localized accumulations.
One clear example occurred on Feb. 26–27, 2004, when a strong winter storm brought a “one-two punch” of heavy precipitation across the state.
The North Carolina State Climate Office’s winter storm database describes widespread impacts and reports 12 to 18 inches from Albemarle northeast to Greensboro, with some Piedmont locations reaching 12–22 inches as intense bands set up and persisted. NASA’s MODIS summary of the same event notes that as much as 1.5 feet of snow fell in parts of North Carolina during that late-February storm.
Those totals stand out because they are far above what most places in the state average in February. While monthly snowfall varies widely by region, February snowfall averages in many North Carolina communities are typically measured in inches or fractions of an inch—not in feet. (For example, many lower-elevation and coastal locations average very little February snow, while mountain communities average more.) That gap between “typical” and “possible” is a defining feature of winter weather in the Southeast: large snowfalls tend to come in short-lived, high-impact events rather than as frequent, smaller storms.
Climatology and event archives also show that 12-inch events are not evenly distributed across the state and are often separated by years. In a 2021 review of historical snow events, the North Carolina State Climate Office compiled maps of the most recent storms producing at least 1 inch, 6 inches, and 12 inches across different parts of North Carolina, illustrating how some areas have seen recent significant snows while other areas go much longer between major events.
For central North Carolina cities, “a foot in one storm” is possible but tends to be exceptional. Records maintained by the National Weather Service office serving the Raleigh area include days in February with notably high snowfall totals in the historical record, showing that very large single-day February accumulations have occurred—even if they are not the norm.
Meteorologists generally point to a specific set of ingredients that can allow a February storm to reach or exceed a foot of snow somewhere in North Carolina:
- Cold air in place at low levels. One common mechanism is “cold air damming,” also called the Appalachian “wedge,” in which a shallow layer of cold air becomes established east of the mountains and can help precipitation fall as snow or sleet instead of rain.
- A moisture-rich storm track. Heavy snow totals require not just cold air, but also a storm system capable of producing substantial precipitation.
- The right temperature structure aloft. Small changes in the vertical temperature profile can shift precipitation type between snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain—sometimes over short distances—making major snowfalls highly localized.
North Carolina snowfall also shows longer-term variability and trends. Data summarized by North Carolina State University’s climate resources indicate that average annual snowfall has decreased at multiple North Carolina locations when comparing the 1961–1990 period to 1991–2020, even as significant snow events remain part of the historical record.
In practical terms, the state’s past weather confirms two things at once: most February storms do not produce a foot of snow for most communities, but the combination of cold-air damming, a strong storm system, and persistent heavy bands has produced double-digit February snowfall totals in North Carolina before—and can do so again when those ingredients align.
