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I guess I didn't make my OP clear. It was pretty much intended for transplants from the extended DC metro area. Before transplanting here and upon arrival we heard much about the Thunderstorms in this area and resulting power outages. In addition there were the ice storm stories. Friends and neighbors up there warned us about storms down here and folks we talked to here talked about the storms. We had storms there but not like they were said to be here. In the last few years that area has had from what friends and neighbors there say and from what I read a lot more sever storms including both wet and cold (ice) while we in our experience here have had no where near as much. I was wondering if other transplants from there had heard and felt the same thing.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Well I JUST moved here from Northern Virginia, and I was actually there during this past weekend's storm. So I cannot really compare what it's like here to there. In the past 10 years or so in Northern Virginia, the most prominent storm in my mind was Hurricane Isabel, which devastated the area. We bought a generator after that. There was a major flooding storm after that, but I don't remember power being an issue, at least not with us. And then there was this past weekend's storm. Our house in Vienna never lost power or had downed trees, but many of our friends did, and there were downed trees everywhere we drove. In addition to those summer-type storms, there was the big Snowmageddon. That's what I remember. I do think there may have been an ice-storm in there, too, but I don't remember it being awful.
As far as this area, like I said, I cannot really compare, as I've only lived here 5 months, but my MIL lives in Greensboro, and I do remember coming down one December when there was a major ice storm. Major portions of the town were without power and trees were down everywhere. It was awful. I do think they tend to have more ice storms here than in DC. Snowstorms are less. Thunderstorms/hurricanes, I do not know.
Well I JUST moved here from Northern Virginia, and I was actually there during this past weekend's storm. So I cannot really compare what it's like here to there. In the past 10 years or so in Northern Virginia, the most prominent storm in my mind was Hurricane Isabel, which devastated the area. We bought a generator after that. There was a major flooding storm after that, but I don't remember power being an issue, at least not with us. And then there was this past weekend's storm. Our house in Vienna never lost power or had downed trees, but many of our friends did, and there were downed trees everywhere we drove. In addition to those summer-type storms, there was the big Snowmageddon. That's what I remember. I do think there may have been an ice-storm in there, too, but I don't remember it being awful.
As far as this area, like I said, I cannot really compare, as I've only lived here 5 months, but my MIL lives in Greensboro, and I do remember coming down one December when there was a major ice storm. Major portions of the town were without power and trees were down everywhere. It was awful. I do think they tend to have more ice storms here than in DC. Snowstorms are less. Thunderstorms/hurricanes, I do not know.
Yeah we came through Delaware, Maryland and Virginia this weekend. Went up hours ahead of the storm and were in Northern Virginia last week. I remember reading and hearing about the massive icestorms here but in five winters have yet to really experience and I know up there they have gotten. Seems like often when I am talking to friends there they have had a bad storm with trees down etc etc. I have had this very discussion with folks there and they think it has gotten more severe there and I have folks here tell me about how it HAS been.
The media does tend to distort the impact of east coast storms in some locations vs. others. My wife and I joke that a hurricane could wipe out SC and NC with little media notice, but God forbid it bring some heavy wind and a few inches of rain all the way to New York City (or even D.C.)!
The storms we get in central NC are generally air mass thunder storms and squall line storms. Air mass storms are fairly benign by thunderstorm standards. "Thunderstorm alley" is more in the midwest Texas to IL or thereabouts where supercells happen. Those are the ones I would move away from if concerned!
After the last Hurricane to hit the N.C. Coast, I called two friends, fishin' buddies, who live in or around Morehead City just to ask if they were alright. They both said the same thing, "Rhodes, it was just another hurricane, we get them every year, we know how to prepare for it, what happened in New York was because they don't get storms like this very often, therefore....they don't know how to prepare for them."
I grew up in Maryland, came down to NC for undergrad, went back to the DC area afterwards and lived all over there for 12 years. Now I've been back in NC since November. I personally don't think the storms are any worse here than the DC area although we did have 5 hurricanes in the 4 years I was in school here. But, the Mid-Atlantic is no stranger to hurricanes either, they're just usually weaker. Back to your question though, I don't think there's much of a difference strength-wise. The only thing I find different is that it's more difficult to tell the direction a storm is heading here. They seem, in my opinion of course, to head more northeast or southeast than the typical west to east storms you see in DC. And they will sit over top of areas for inordinate amounts of time here without moving much.
My brother has lived in DC for 17 years or so after living in NC for 30 years. He has said many times over the years that the weather in the DC area is rarely substantially different than it is here. I agree with him. All areas get freakish weather at times. to compile data based on anecdotal evidence is kind of a waste of time.
We had extreme temps and violent storms in NY off and on. I just don't see how anywhere on the eastern seaboard is that different from any other where.
The media does tend to distort the impact of east coast storms in some locations vs. others. My wife and I joke that a hurricane could wipe out SC and NC with little media notice, but God forbid it bring some heavy wind and a few inches of rain all the way to New York City (or even D.C.)!
North Carolina benefits greatly by having the Appalachians to our west, except in the summer, where downslope winds tend to dry things out and create drought-y conditions. But thunderstorm complexes approaching from the west tend to get beaten up by the mountains, which is why we don't generally get a lot of tornadoes or supercells here. The exception would be when the Gulf of Mexico is open for business, and fronts drawing moisture from that big, warm bathtub suck humid air northward, bypassing the mountains and bringing the steam bath conditions directly into the Triangle. That's when you'll see severe thunderstorms and even a tornado or two, as we did last April. But most of the time, that big granite wall to our west protects us from the kind of mayhem you see in the Midwest. Yet another reason to love the Old North State.
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