North Carolina, 2004

Sleet in North Carolina, January 25 to 26, 2004

January 25 to 26, 2004 · NWS GSP · 15 events in 15 counties and zones

During the early afternoon, snow began to mix with sleet across the foothills and northern piedmont, before becoming all sleet later in the evening. In the southern piedmont, precipitation fell almost exclusively as sleet.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 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
15

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.

During the early afternoon, snow began to mix with sleet across the foothills and northern piedmont, before becoming all sleet later in the evening. In the southern piedmont, precipitation fell almost exclusively as sleet. Total sleet accumulations were generally between 1 and 2 inches across the area. A light freezing rain developed during the evening, which resulted in a thin glaze of ice on top of the layer of sleet. Very slick roads were responsible for hundreds of traffic accidents, some of which involved injuries and fatalaties. Numerous injuries also occurred due to falls.

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 Jan 25, 10:41 AM EST, 3 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 25, 10:41 AM EST, 3 hours 19 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 25, 6:13 AM EST, 7 hours 47 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
613 AM EST SUN JAN 25 2004

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-251306-
ABBEVILLE SC-ALEXANDER NC-ANDERSON SC-AVERY NC-BUNCOMBE NC-BURKE NC-
CABARRUS NC-CALDWELL NC-CATAWBA NC-CHEROKEE SC-CHESTER SC-
CLEVELAND NC-DAVIE NC-ELBERT GA-FRANKLIN GA-GASTON NC-GRAHAM NC-
GREATER GREENVILLE SC-GREATER OCONEE SC-GREATER PICKENS SC-
GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS SC-GREENWOOD SC-HABERSHAM GA-HART GA-HAYWOOD NC-
HENDERSON NC-IREDELL NC-LAURENS SC-LINCOLN NC-MACON NC-MADISON NC-
MCDOWELL NC-MECKLENBURG NC-MITCHELL NC-NORTHERN JACKSON NC-
OCONEE MOUNTAINS SC-PICKENS MOUNTAINS SC-POLK NC-RABUN GA-ROWAN NC-
RUTHERFORD NC-SOUTHERN JACKSON NC-SPARTANBURG SC-STEPHENS GA-
SWAIN NC-TRANSYLVANIA NC-UNION SC-UNION NC-YANCEY NC-YORK SC-
613 AM EST SUN JAN 25 2004

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

.DAY ONE...
PRECIPITATION WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST
GEORGIA THIS MORNING. A VARIETY OF WINTER WEATHER IS EXPECTED THROUGH
THIS EVENING...WITH THE GREATEST THREAT FOR SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS
OF SLEET AND ICE ACROSS THE NORTH CAROLINA FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT. A
WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR THE AREA TO
THE EAST AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM WAYNESVILLE TO BREVARD...
WESTMINSTER...ANDERSON...AND LAURENS. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN
EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR JACKON AND MACON COUNTIES IN NORTH
CAROLINA...RABUN...HABERSHAM...AND STEPHENS COUNTIES IN GEORGIA...AND
ABBEVILLE AND GREENWOOD COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.  FOR MORE
INFORMATION...SEE THE WSWGSP ISSUED AT 418 AM.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

MOORE

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

15 sleet. Local standard time, as filed.

Sleet, Caldwell

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Caldwell forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT

Sleet, Alexander

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Alexander forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.921, -81.177 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Iredell

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Iredell forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.807, -80.873 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Davie

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Davie forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.929, -80.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Burke

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Burke forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT

Sleet, Catawba

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Catawba forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.663, -81.214 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Rowan

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Rowan forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.640, -80.525 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Polk

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Polk forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT

Sleet, Rutherford

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Rutherford forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT

Sleet, Cleveland

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Cleveland forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.334, -81.556 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Lincoln

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.486, -81.224 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Gaston

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Gaston forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.294, -81.180 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Mecklenburg

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Mecklenburg forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.247, -80.833 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Cabarrus

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Cabarrus forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.387, -80.552 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Union

When
January 25, 2:00 PM EST to January 26, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Union forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.988, -80.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Sleet
Sleet accumulating half an inch or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, January 2004

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: 5383030, 5383031, 5383032, 5383033, 5383034, 5383035, 5383036, 5383037, 5383038, 5383039, 5383040, 5383041, 5383042, 5383043, 5383044.