Winter Storm — Wilkes, North Carolina

2025-01-10 to 2025-01-11 · Wilkes, North Carolina

Event narrative

Between two and five inches of snow fell across Wilkes County from January 10 through January 11. The highest amount of five inches was observed near Glendale Springs. Snowfall created in hazardous driving conditions, leading to several traffic accidents on several state highways and major secondary roads, several of which resulted in extended road closures. Three accidents were reported on US Route 421 Bypass, and closed the road for an extended period of time. Key Impacts: power outages, vehicle accidents, road closures.

Wider weather episode

An upper level storm system tracked across the eastern United States through the day of January 11 and into the overnight, while the resultant surface low moved from the Gulf Coast into the Carolina coast. Some initial precipitation spread over North Carolina from the surface low, but the heavier precipitation occurred with the passage of the upper level storm system. Strong lift resulted in some banding of heavy snow with localized areas of higher accumulations of northwest North Carolina. The accumulating snow led to hazardous road conditions and some vehicle accidents, a few of which resulted in road closures.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1238796. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.