Winter Weather — Caldwell Mountains, North Carolina

2019-02-19 to 2019-02-20 · Caldwell Mountains, North Carolina

Wider weather episode

A moist southerly flow develop above a cool wedge of high pressure resulted in development of precipitation across western North Carolina during the afternoon and evening of the 19th. Just enough cold air was in place to allow the precipitation to initially fall as a mixture of sleet and snow along the eastern Blue Ridge escarpment as well as the far northern foothills and Piedmont. As warm air developed aloft, precipitation gradually transitioned to sleet and freezing rain in most of these locations during the overnight and early morning hours of the 21st. Most areas transitioned to rain during the morning of the 21st, although some pockets of freezing rain persisted in sheltered areas along the Blue Ridge. Total sleet and snow accumulations generally ranged from one half inch to less than 2 inches, although some high elevation areas along the Blue Ridge saw 2 to 4 inches of snow. Some locations along the Blue Ridge saw between .1 and .2 inch ice accretion before the precip tapered off or changed to rain.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 807652. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.