Ice Storm — Transylvania, North Carolina

2002-12-04 to 2002-12-05 · Transylvania, North Carolina

Wider weather episode

Freezing rain began over the extreme southern mountains of North Carolina during the early afternoon on the 4th, and had spread into the southwest piedmont by mid afternoon. Resultant damage due to ice accumulation began during the mid-to-late afternoon. The intensity of the freezing rain increased after midnight, and by sunrise on the 5th, devastating ice accumulations of 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches were observed. The hardest hit area was Charlotte metro. Hundreds of thousands lost power, and the outages lasted for as long as 2 weeks in some areas.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5326491. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.