Does it snow in this area every year, or is it just occasionally? (Charlotte: apartment complexes, chapel)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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I'm moving there soon. Visited the triangle but only during the summer, and I'd like to know how often it snows just to better prepare my family. We're from a place that never sees snow in south Florida.
It entirely depends on the year. We usually get some flurries regardless, but whether it sticks is always up for grabs. Last year we had a really mild winter and I think I only saw a brief amount of snow that had all melted by lunch hour. Every 5 or so years though, we end up getting this snowpocalpse situation where we'll get a few inches and everything grinds to a halt around here. It's brief and is usually gone in a day or so.
What you really have to worry about around here is ice. It's not the snow that will get you in this area, it's the ice. The ground will become wet and temperatures will barely creep up to above freezing mid-day. Then it refreezes by night and causes traffic nightmares.
Personally after the really mild winter we had last year and already having seen sleet falling last Tuesday, this winter is probably going to be a brutal one weather wise.
I'm moving there soon. Visited the triangle but only during the summer, and I'd like to know how often it snows just to better prepare my family. We're from a place that never sees snow in south Florida.
Winter is just a passing occurrence in the RTP. First, it starts late. Not uncommon to see shorts around Christmas and on average there are very few days in January and February when the temperature does not break 50-55F.
I would be very surprised if we didn't get a significant snow-storm this year. Been one of the coolest and wettest years around here that I can remember and I grew up here.
Snow here causes a mild panic and closes things; but generally it's a pleasant experience. We've had ice-storms here that are terrible though. The worst one I remember was December 2002. There was an inch of ice on everything (that is very significant ice accumulation) and tons of trees and branches were down; almost as many as during hurricane Fran. It was an over-night storm and I remember lying awake in my bed hearing the sounds of trees falling thinking it sounded like cars crashing into each other...and also thinking "why is there lightning during an ice storm?!?!"...the "lightning" was the transformers exploding. We didn't have power for almost a week and the temperature in our house got down into the upper 30s!
A lot of people from the northeast and midwest can be annoyingly dismissive and scoff at the idea of there being "winter" in NC because it is so much milder than where they came from so they will tell you "Pfft...there's no reeaaall winter down here herp derp!" However, if you are coming from S. Florida, you will definitely think that late November-early March here is "winter".
I would be very surprised if we didn't get a significant snow-storm this year. Been one of the coolest and wettest years around here that I can remember and I grew up here.
I really believe it's going to happen. Just have this weird feeling this year about it in my gut that we're going to get some really craptastic weather after the ultra mild weather last year. I've even got a few days of PTO saved up so that I don't have to deal with commuting those days should it occur.
Winter is generally very mild, but those that have lived in the area long enough know that you can get some very real, eye opening exceptions to that.
I think it was Jan 2000 we got a 2-foot snow blizzard, then it did the same thing even worse two years later, I measured 26 inches of snow at my place (not in a drift). A couple of years after that (2005 I think), we got a nasty ice storm that caught everyone by surprise and turned the roads into parking lots, after work the commute home became a 6-10 hour drive for some people that evening, it made national news.
I agree about the ice. Didn't really believe it till we moved here and we haven't had an ice storm like they've had in the past, but for whatever reason it does get very icy here when we have precipitation and the conditions are right.
Not an ice fan. Last winter my dog pulled me so I was ice skiing for a bit, then I foolishly grasped two posts and though it was somewhat of a chiropractic adjustment, it caused new problems.
I lived in Chapel Hill from 1983 to 1988, and I recall one or two ice storms in that period. One was a truly hellacious ice storm that I had to drive through to get to DC for a trade show … and I was iced in at the hotel for several days. But you're not close enough to the mountains to get the sort of big and frequent ice storms you get in Asheville NC or Charlottesville VA (where I lived for five years in the 70s).
The key to being comfortable is layering … you don't need a parka or long underwear in the Triangle area, but a winter coat, a lighter jacket, a pair of gloves, a muffler, a winter hat, earmuffs, sweaters, and a pair of hiking or hunting boots will make life a lot more comfortable. You might not need all that, but in my book it's better to be prepared than miserable. For dealing with the icing, I use a pair of YakTrak Pros (metal cleats that strap on your shoes). Up here, the cities and apartment complexes have sand and deicer they spread around when it's icy … no budget for such things down in NC since most of the time they're not needed.
The important thing as others have pointed out, the most miserable weather is transient in the Triangle … most of the time it's much milder. My coworkers and I ate lunch at the picnic tables outside our place of employment into early December, and spring starts up in February.
The important thing as others have pointed out, the most miserable weather is transient in the Triangle … most of the time it's much milder. My coworkers and I ate lunch at the picnic tables outside our place of employment into early December, and spring starts up in February.
My spring bulbs are already coming up (I may have planted them too early ?)
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