Name: Winter Weather in North Carolina, December 4, 2002
Start: 2002-12-04T09:00
End: 2002-12-04T15:00
Location: North Carolina

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.

Two inches of snow fell at Highlands, Cashiers, and Nantahala, while the highest elevations along the Tennessee border received as much as 6 inches. A combination of sleet, freezing rain, and rain was observed in the major valleys, with no significant accumulations.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 4, 3:58 AM EST, 5 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 3:58 AM EST, 5 hours 2 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 4, 6:17 AM EST, 2 hours 43 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-041315-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
617 AM EST WED DEC 4 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...

A MAJOR WINTER STORM WILL BE SPREADING SNOW...SLEET AND FREEZING
RAIN INTO THE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT AND A WINTER STORM WARNING IS
IN EFFECT. FOR FURTHER DETAILS...PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WSWGSP
ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO RELAY REPORTS OF SNOW AND ICE TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

LINGERING ICING CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE INTO THURSDAY MORNING BEFORE
THE TEMPERATURE WARMS TO ABOVE FREEZING BY MIDDAY.

55

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Swain

When: December 4, 9:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where: Swain forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.487, -83.493 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Graham

When: December 4, 9:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where: Graham forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.350, -83.834 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Macon

When: December 4, 9:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
Where: Macon forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.150, -83.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, December 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5326514, 5326515, 5326516.