Heavy Snow, Cherokee
- When
- February 12, 8:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Cherokee forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 35.134, -84.063 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Three inches of snow was reported at Murphy.
Heavy Snow in North Carolina, February 12, 2016
During an extended period of predominant cold northwesterly flow across the Eastern United States, an upper level system moved across the Southern Appalachian Region producing snowfall amounts totaling less than three inches across most of the MRX forecast area. However, a few spots picked up slightly greater totals.
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
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 MRX wrote it up.
During an extended period of predominant cold northwesterly flow across the Eastern United States, an upper level system moved across the Southern Appalachian Region producing snowfall amounts totaling less than three inches across most of the MRX forecast area. However, a few spots picked up slightly greater totals.
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 Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 12, 6:40 AM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 12, 6:40 AM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes before
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</html>Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 12, 3:36 AM EST, 4 hours 24 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN 336 AM EST FRI FEB 12 2016 NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002- 005-006-008-130845- CHEROKEE-CLAY-SCOTT TN-CAMPBELL-CLAIBORNE-HANCOCK-HAWKINS- SULLIVAN-JOHNSON-MORGAN-ANDERSON-UNION-GRAINGER-HAMBLEN- NORTHWEST COCKE-COCKE SMOKY MOUNTAINS-NORTHWEST GREENE- SOUTHEAST GREENE-WASHINGTON TN-UNICOI-NORTHWEST CARTER- SOUTHEAST CARTER-ROANE-LOUDON-KNOX-JEFFERSON-NW BLOUNT- BLOUNT SMOKY MOUNTAINS-NORTH SEVIER-SEVIER SMOKY MOUNTAINS- SEQUATCHIE-BLEDSOE-RHEA-MEIGS-MCMINN-NORTHWEST MONROE- SOUTHEAST MONROE-MARION-HAMILTON-BRADLEY-WEST POLK-EAST POLK-LEE- WISE-SCOTT-RUSSELL-WASHINGTON- 336 AM EST FRI FEB 12 2016 /236 AM CST FRI FEB 12 2016/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA...EAST TENNESSEE AND SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... A FAST MOVING WEAK SYSTEM WILL TRANSIT ACROSS THE AREA TODAY BRINGING WITH IT ANOTHER ROUND OF LIGHT SNOW. SNOW SHOWERS WILL LINGER INTO TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY OVER THE NORMALLY FAVORED HIGHER TERRAIN AREAS. LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL POSSIBLE MAINLY NEAR AND NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE 40 CORRIDOR. IN ADDITION...WIND CHILL VALUES WILL BE QUITE LOW ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE NORTHEAST TENNESSEE MOUNTAINS AND THE SMOKY MOUNTAINS BY LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... ANOTHER STRONGER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. WITH ARCTIC AIR IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION...WIDESPREAD ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE. AS TEMPERATURES WARM ON MONDAY...SNOW COULD MIX WITH RAIN...FREEZING RAIN...AND SLEET...BEFORE CHANGING ENTIRELY TO SNOW MONDAY NIGHT...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE EAST TENNESSEE MOUNTAINS WHERE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE BY TUESDAY MORNING. SPECIFIC FORECAST DETAILS REGARDING PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS...TYPE... AND THE TIMING ARE VERY UNCERTAIN AT THIS TIME. PLEASE STAY INFORMED AND UP TO DATE ON THE LATEST FORECAST INFORMATION REGARDING THIS POTENTIAL WINTER STORM...PARTICULARLY IF YOU HAVE TRAVEL PLANS THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND! .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SNOWFALL REPORTS MAY BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT...AND AGAIN ON MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Dense Fog in California, February 12 to 13, 2016
- Lake-Effect Snow in New York, February 12 to 13, 2016
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 12, 2016
- Dense Fog in California, February 12 to 13, 2016
- Winter Weather in Tennessee, February 12, 2016
- Winter Storm in North Carolina, February 12, 2016
- High Surf in California, February 12 to 14, 2016
- Lake-Effect Snow and Winter Weather in Michigan, February 12 to 13, 2016
- Blizzard in Alaska, February 12 to 14, 2016
- Heavy Snow in Tennessee, February 12, 2016
- Heavy Rain in Idaho, February 12 to 19, 2016
- Winter Weather in Virginia, February 12, 2016
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, February 2016
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: 617343.