Winter Storm — Ocracoke Island, North Carolina

2025-01-21 to 2025-01-22 · Ocracoke Island, North Carolina

Event narrative

Reports of five to nine inches of snow across Ocracoke Island, primarily in Ocracoke Village. Snow started on the evening of the 21st and ended on the afternoon of the 22nd.

Wider weather episode

An upper level storm system moved southeast through the Rockies, then east across the Southern U.S. on January 21-22. This storm system overlapped with an usually cold airmass already in place across much of the U.S., leading to a rare deep south winter storm that blanketed Eastern North Carolina with at least several inches of snow. Snow began during the evening hours of the 21st as a surface trough moved into the Coastal Plain with snowfall then spreading east as the evening progressed and a stationary front set up offshore. Snow became heavy at times especially across portions of the Outer Banks where the highest snowfall amounts fell. Snow then quickly ended across the Coastal Plain on the morning of the 22nd while snow stuck around the OBX and eastern Carteret County until the afternoon on the 22nd. The winter storm was responsible for producing a swath of 2-6 of snow for much of ENC, with several locations across the Outer Banks reporting amounts as high as 6-9.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1225225. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.