Weather

40 years ago today: 20 inches of snow in eastern NC

Meteorological spring is here! But as many of you know, just because it's meteorological spring on the calendar, snow isn't out of the question.

Posted Updated
Catching snowflakes
By
Aimee Wilmoth
, WRAL Weather executive producer

Meteorological spring is here! But as many of you know, just because it's meteorological spring on the calendar, snow isn't out of the question. Our snow chances rapidly decline during the month of March, but it remains a transitional month when we can get an occasional snow storm that can produce a lot of snow.

In fact, it was 40 years ago today that a snow storm brought HUGE impacts to North Carolina.

This was a fairly unique system in that it brought the heaviest snow to eastern parts of our state. Elizabeth City had 25 inches of snow and ECU had to cancel classes for 2 days after getting about 20 inches of snow! If you were around in 1980, you certainly remember this powerful snow storm. Check out the snow totals in the figure below.

March 2, 1980 snow totals.

Widespread snowfall totals of 12-18 inches were reported across central and eastern parts of North Carolina.

Along with the heavy snow, this system also brought very strong winds. Sustained winds of 20-40 mph with 50 mph gusts caused snow drifts up to 8 feet!

March 2, 1980 snow storm

This major snow storm caused $21.8 million in property damage, and there were 13 storm related deaths in North Carolina.

Looking at the latest weather models, there is no snow in site for central and eastern North Carolina. The mountains could get some snow late this week though.

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