Winter Storm — Coastal Onslow, North Carolina

2026-01-31 · Coastal Onslow, North Carolina

Event narrative

An NWS employee reported snowfall totals of sixteen inches near Hubert, North Carolina, with several additional reports from the public, and CoCoRaHS stations reporting between twelve and seventeen inches of snowfall across Onslow County. Snowfall fell between the morning hours on January thirty-first and the morning of February first.

Wider weather episode

A potent upper-level low tracked south and then southeast from the Upper Midwest to the Southeast during the weekend of Friday January 30th to Sunday February 1st. At the same time, a baroclinic zone set up along the offshore waters of Georgia, westwards to the Deep South. A surface low then developed along this baroclinic zone just off the coast of Georgia during the early morning hours on Saturday. As the upper level low neared the developing surface low, this resulted in a Miller-A low pressure system. The associated offshore low pressure system then rapidly deepened as it tracked northeastwards just off the North Carolina coast during the overnight hours between Saturday and Sunday. This very strong low then pulled away from the Carolinas and moved out into the open waters of the North Atlantic during the late morning hours on Sunday. With an unusually cold airmass in place across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, a rather widespread and historic snowstorm for almost all of Eastern North Carolina occurred. Snow began during the morning hours on Saturday mainly along the Crystal Coast and Inner Banks, though a period of light snow occurred across portions of the Coastal Plain as well Saturday morning. By Saturday afternoon the low pressure system off the coast began to deepen quickly resulting in heavier and more widespread snowfall across much of Eastern North Carolina. Snowfall rates became heavy at times resulting in periods of whiteout conditions as 30-50 mph wind gusts (60-65 mph on the Outer Banks) also impacted the area making travel treacherous across the region. Snow finally pushed completely offshore by the late morning hours on Sunday. Over 10 inches of snowfall were measured across most counties of Eastern North Carolina outside of Hatteras Island and Ocracoke with several counties reporting over a foot of snowfall.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1303933. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.