With a deep trough to our west, several shortwaves moved over the area, triggering showers. With a very moist air mass in place, the heavy rain caused some isolated flash flooding.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS RAH wrote it up.
With a deep trough to our west, several shortwaves moved over the area, triggering showers. With a very moist air mass in place, the heavy rain caused some isolated flash flooding.
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 Raleigh, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 22, 4:24 AM EST, 1 hour 56 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 424 AM EST TUE DEC 22 2015 .SYNOPSIS... A SOUTHERLY FLOW OF WARMER AND MORE MOIST AIR WILL DEVELOP TODAY AND PERSIST FOR MUCH OF THE WEEK. MEANWHILE...A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE WEST ON TUESDAY...THEN STALL OVER THE REGION. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... AS OF 420 AM TUESDAY... TODAY: EMBEDDED WITHIN THE LARGER SCALE TROUGH CENTERED OVER THE NATIONS MID-SECTION...LEAD SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND ATTENDANT SURFACE LOW PRESSURE AREA OVER THE OHIO VALLEY WILL TRACK QUICKLY THROUGH THE NORTHEAST AND SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TODAY. INITIAL SURGE OF SOUTHERLY MOISTURE ADVECTION EAST OF THIS SYSTEM...AND AIDED BY WEAK SEVERAL SHORTWAVE IMPULSES EMBEDDED IN THE SWLY FLOW ALOFT WILL SUPPORT CATEGORICAL RAIN SHOWERS ACROSS THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH LATE MORNING(~16Z)AND THEN ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA INTO THE EARLY/MID AFTERNOON(18-20Z). WIDESPREAD RAIN AND LOW CLOUDS WILL SUBDUE DESTABILIZATION FOR THE MOST PART...WITH SOME WEAK ELEVATED INSTABILITY PERHAPS SUPPORTING ISOLATED THUNDER ACROSS THE FAR EASTERN/SOUTHEASTERN ZONES. RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO AVERAGE AROUND 0.50"...WITH AS MUCH AS AN INCH POSSIBLE WITH ANY CONVECTIVE BAND. DESPITE THE RAIN AND CLOUDS...EXPECT THE STRONG WARM AIR ADVECTION TO BOOST TEMPERATURES INTO THE 60S TODAY...COOLEST IN THE NW PIEDMONT WITH SOME LOWER 60 EXPECTED AND WARMEST IN THE EAST WHERE WE MAY APPROACH 70 IN SOME SPOTS. THIS EVENING/TONIGHT: SHOULD SEE A LULL THIS EVENING AND THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE NIGHT WITH RAIN CHANCES QUICKLY RATCHETING UP LATE...ESPECIALLY IN THE WEST AS NEXT STRONG SURGE OF GULF MOISTURE SPREADS NORTH INTO THE AREA IN RESPONSE TO THE NEXT SHORTWAVE TROUGH ROTATING THROUGH THE BASE OF THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS. MILD OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE UPPER 50S NORTHWEST TO LOWER/MID 60S SOUTHEAST. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 420 AM TUESDAY... STRONG GULF MOISTURE TRANSPORT COURTESY OF A 50-60KT H8 LLJ...EAST OF THE NEGATIVE-TILTED TROUGH LIFTING NEWD THROUGH THE MS VALLEY WILL SUPPORT WIDESPREAD SHOWERS ALONG WITH THE CHANCE OF THUNDER ON WEDNESDAY WITH THE POTENTIAL TO REALIZE WEAK TO POSSIBLY MODERATE SURFACE BUOYANCY/DESTABILIZATION WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON ...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF WHERE SFC DEWPOINTS WILL LIKELY RISE INTO THE UPPER 60S/NEAR 70. WHILE CENTRAL NC WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE BETTER UPPER FORCING...THE STRONG LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE AND STRENGTHENING DIVERGENCE WITHIN THE RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THE STJ LIFTING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS DURING FAVORABLE DIURNAL TIMING COULD SUPPORT A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS BY THE LATE MORNING AND INTO THE AFTERNOON. HOWEVER AS WE SAW LAST WEEK IN A SIMILAR EVENT...TIMING IS EVERYTHING AND IF THE CONVECTION BLOWS IN AND EXITS THE AREA EARLY ENOUGH IN THE DAY...THEN THE SEVERE POTENTIAL WILL BE NULL. THE MAIN THREAT COULD END UP BEING SOME LOCALIZED/ISOLATED FLOODING WITH ANOTHER INCH POSSIBLE. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR AND ADDRESS ANY POTENTIAL SEVERE AND/OR FLOODING THREAT ACCORDINGLY...BUT AT THIS TIME BOTH APPEAR LOW. THE VERY WARM AND MOIST AIR WILL SUPPORT MILD TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER TO MID 70S ON WEDNESDAY WITH LOWS WEDNESDAY NIGHT STAYING IN THE 60S. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... AS OF 420 AM TUESDAY.. A STRONG SUB-TROPICAL RIDGE OVER THE WEST-CENTRAL ATLANTIC...WITH ANOMALOUSLY HIGH HEIGHTS AND PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES BETWEEN 200-300 PERCENT OF NORMAL FROM THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES TO EAST-CENTRAL CANADA...WILL MAINTAIN A VERY MILD- WARM REGIME ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD...AND A WET ONE PRIMARILY ALONG AND WEST OF THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS BY THU. THE MAIN FORECAST UNCERTAINTY LIES IN THE POSITIONING OF A WAVY FRONTAL ZONE FORECAST TO MEANDER ACROSS THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES AND CONSEQUENTLY HOW MUCH SUPPRESSION OF THE WARMTH OCCURS EAST OF THE APPALACHIANS...DICTATED BY A BATTLE BETWEEN THE SUB-TROPICAL RIDGE AND CONFLUENT SPLIT FLOW ALOFT/UNDERLYING POLAR HIGHS FORECAST TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES AND NEW ENGLAND BY THIS WEEKEND. THE TIMING OF POTENTIAL COLD FRONTAL SURGES INTO NC...IF THEY OCCUR...ARE FAVORED LATE FRI NIGHT-SAT...AND AGAIN SUN NIGHT- MON...WITH OTHERWISE UNSEASONABLY MILD-WARM AND HUMID CONDITIONS IN DEEP SOUTHERLY FLOW AROUND THE SUB-TROPICAL RIDGE. THE PRIMARY BRANCH OF THE NORTHERN STREAM WILL BE BLOCKED TO THE NW BY THE SUB- TROPICAL RIDGING...SO FORCING FOR ASCENT AND ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL BE SMALL (GENERALLY AOB 30 PERCENT) AND INSTEAD DRIVEN BY LOWER AMPLITUDE SOUTHERN STREAM PERTURBATIONS AND ASSOCIATED SURGES OF LOW LEVEL THETA-E ADVECTION AND BRIEF EROSION OF A CAPPING INVERSION...WITH SAID CAPPING MORE LIKELY TO BE OVERCOME BY DIURNAL HEATING IN AN AIRMASS MORE CHARACTERISTIC OF APRIL-MAY THAN LATE DECEMBER. && .AVIATION /06Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... AS OF 150 AM TUESDAY... 24 HOUR TAF PERIOD: INITIAL SURGE OF MOISTURE ADVECTION IN ADVANCE OF THE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING THROUGH THE OHIO VALLEY THIS MORNING AND THEN THROUGH THE NORTHEAST AND NEW ENGLAND STATES THIS AFTERNOON WILL SUPPORT WIDESPREAD RAIN/SHOWERS ACROSS THE AREA.WESTERN TERMINALS WILL EXPERIENCE CATEGORICAL RAIN CHANCES BETWEEN 06Z TO 15Z WITH EASTERN TERMINALS HAVING THE BEST CHANCE OF RAIN BETWEEN 12 TO 18Z. AVIATION CONDITIONS WILL LOWER TO IFR TO MVFR AS THE RAIN MOVES INTO THE AREAS. ONCE THE RAIN MOVES OUT OF THE AREA AVIATION CONDITIONS COULD BRIEFLY LIFT/IMPROVE TO LOW END MVFR OR POSSIBLY EVEN VFR LATE THIS AFTERNOON BEFORE A RETURN TO LIFR TO IFR CONDITIONS THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT AS STRATUS AND/OR FOG DEVELOPS IN THE CONTINUED MOIST LOW-LEVELS. OUTLOOK: A MOIST DEEP SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW DOWNSTREAM OF THE LONG WAVE TROUGH IN PLACE ACROSS THE CENTRAL CONUS WILL SUPPORT A PROLONGED PERIOD OF ADVERSE AVIATION CONDITIONS THROUGH MUCH OF THE PERIOD. NEXT SURGE OF MOISTURE MOVES OUT OF THE GULF OF MEXICO LATE TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...WHICH COULD POTENTIALLY PRODUCE EXTENDED PERIODS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN...ESPECIALLY ACROSS WESTERN NC. SUB-VFR CONDITIONS IN LOW CLOUDS/STRATUS WILL ALSO BE LIKELY EACH MORNING. && .CLIMATE... HERE ARE THE AREA RECORD MAXIMUMS AND HIGH MINIMUMS FOR DECEMBER 24TH AND 25TH. RECORDS HAVE BEEN KEPT IN THE GREENSBORO AREA SINCE 1903... IN THE RALEIGH AREA SINCE 1887... AND IN THE FAYETTEVILLE AREA SINCE 1910. DEC 24: RECORD MAXIMUM HIGH MINIMUM GREENSBORO 71 (1964) 52 (1904) RALEIGH 75 (1931) 59 (1891) FAYETTEVILLE 78 (1931) 66 (1990) DEC 25: RECORD MAXIMUM HIGH MINIMUM GREENSBORO 74 (1955) 58 (1932) RALEIGH 75 (1955) 63 (1932) FAYETTEVILLE 79 (1932) 68 (1932) && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SYNOPSIS...22 NEAR TERM...CBL SHORT TERM...CBL LONG TERM...2 AVIATION...CBL CLIMATE...HARTFIELD/BLAES
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 556 AM EST TUE DEC 22 2015 NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-231100- PERSON-GRANVILLE-VANCE-WARREN-HALIFAX-FORSYTH-GUILFORD-ALAMANCE- ORANGE-DURHAM-FRANKLIN-NASH-EDGECOMBE-DAVIDSON-RANDOLPH-CHATHAM-WAKE- JOHNSTON-WILSON-STANLY-MONTGOMERY-MOORE-LEE-HARNETT-WAYNE-ANSON- RICHMOND-SCOTLAND-HOKE-CUMBERLAND-SAMPSON- 556 AM EST TUE DEC 22 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 151 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:21 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain caused creeks and streams to leave their banks and flood a half dozen rural roads.
High water caused Swepsonville Road to be closed near Bob Vaughn Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, December 2015
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 610223, 610225.