North Carolina, 2002

Ice Storm in North Carolina, February 6, 2002

February 6, 2002 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A burst of heavy sleet and freezing rain culminated a day of mostly light snowfall. The rapid accumulation of ice brought down power lines, causing outages to 875 customers in the Spruce Pine area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
1

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.

A burst of heavy sleet and freezing rain culminated a day of mostly light snowfall. The rapid accumulation of ice brought down power lines, causing outages to 875 customers in the Spruce Pine area.

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 Feb 6, 3:02 PM EST, 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 6, 3:02 PM EST, 58 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Mitchell

When
February 6, 4:00 PM EST to 6:00 PM EST
Where
Mitchell forecast zone
Reported by
FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates
36.013, -82.163 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Ice Storm
Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, February 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5283270.