Heavy Snow — Northern Oconee, South Carolina

2000-01-22 to 2000-01-23 · Northern Oconee, South Carolina

Wider weather episode

A cold dome of arctic high pressure centered over the Mid-Atlantic States provided very cold and dry air to Upstate South Carolina. Meanwhile, weak low pressure moved east along a frontal boundary stalled across the Gulf Coast States to the Georgia coast. Abundant moisture flowed north into the sub-freezing air over the Upstate, resulting in light snow as early as the the afternoon on the 22nd. Snow became heavy around 6 pm, with total accumulations between 4 and 7 inches, across the northern halves of Greenville and Spartanburg counties, Cherokee county, and extreme northern Union county. Across the southern half of the Upstate sleet mixed with the snow toward the evening hours. A gradual mix with and eventual changeover to freezing rain occurred between 8 pm and midnight. One to 3 inches of snow and sleet fell across the southern half of the Upstate, before the changeover to freezing rain. Freezing rain lasted all night and through much of the morning on the 23rd. Ice accumulations reached damaging levels around 3 am, causing a large number of trees and power lines to fall throughout the morning. This in turn, resulted in widespread power outages.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5129356. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.