Winter Storm — Inland Onslow, North Carolina

2025-02-19 to 2025-02-20 · Inland Onslow, North Carolina

Event narrative

Widespread ice accretions of 0.15 to 0.25 inches were reported. The reports came from Half Moon, Richlands, Jacksonville, Swansboro, and Hubert. Jones/Onslow Electric COOP reported multiple trees that were downed due to the freezing rain accretion resulting in over 2500 power outages across the county. In addition to this, up to 0.1 inches of sleet fell across the area.

Wider weather episode

An area of low pressure developed along the U.S. Gulf Coast, traveled northeast up along the Southeast U.S. coastline, then off the coast of the Carolinas during the time period of February 19th to the early morning hours of February 20th. As this occurred, an area of widespread precipitation developed along the track of the low. Where temperatures were cold enough, there was a mix of sleet, freezing rain, and snow. For areas from the Crystal Coast through the southern Outer Banks, the precipitation type was mostly rain. This event produced a swath of accumulating sleet and snow from central North Carolina through southeast Virginia. South of the snow and sleet, there was a swath of accumulating ice, with a zone of 0.10 - 0.30 of ice accretion. The combination of ice and wind led to tree and power line damage across parts of ENC, with numerous power outages reported.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1230217. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.