Winter Storm — Greater Burke, North Carolina

2015-02-16 to 2015-02-17 · Greater Burke, North Carolina

Wider weather episode

Sleet and snow overspread the mountains and foothills of North Carolina during the afternoon and began to accumulate. Precipitation changed quickly to sleet in most areas, before mixing with freezing rain from southwest to northeast during the late afternoon and early evening. Sleet and freezing caused deteriorating road conditions by early evening, when heavy accumulations of sleet and/or freezing rain were reported across much of the area. Most locations saw around a half inch to an inch of sleet, along with around a tenth of an inch of ice accretion. The valleys of southwest North Carolina saw more freezing rain than sleet, with about one quarter inch of ice reported. Scattered power outages were therefore more concentrated there. Meanwhile, the northern foothills saw mostly sleet, with many areas reporting 2 to 3 inches of accumulation. Roads became very treacherous and impassable in many areas until melting began on the afternoon of the 17th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 561546. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.