Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 6 to 7, 2017

Name: Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 6 to 7, 2017
Start: 2017-01-06T16:00
End: 2017-01-07T07:00
Location: North Carolina

January 6 to 7, 2017 · NWS GSP · 12 events in 11 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 12 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: 12

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.

As an area of surface low pressure moved northeast along the Gulf and Southeast coasts, moisture overspread the southern Appalachians throughout the 6th. Although the precip may have started as rain in the lower valleys, it primarily fell as snow. It was initially light in most areas, but became heavy during mid-to-late evening, continuing into the overnight. By the time the heavier snowfall rates tapered off around sunrise, total accumulations ranged from 5 to 7 inches. Locally higher amounts of as much as 10 were observed across the higher elevations of the foothills counties.

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 6, 3:06 PM EST, 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 3:06 PM EST, 54 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 6, 3:01 PM EST, 59 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
301 PM EST FRI JAN 6 2017

NCZ033-048>053-058-059-072015-
AVERY-MADISON-YANCEY-MITCHELL-SWAIN-HAYWOOD-BUNCOMBE-GRAHAM-
NORTHERN JACKSON-
301 PM EST FRI JAN 6 2017

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 PM EST
SATURDAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER STORM WARNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.

..SATURDAY...WINTER STORM LIKELY. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST CAEWSWGSP
FOR DETAILS.
..SUNDAY...DANGEROUS WIND CHILL POSSIBLE. AN ARCTIC AIR MASS WILL
BUILD INTO THE REGION...BRINGING EXCEPTIONALLY COLD TEMPERATURES.
GUSTY
WINDS COMBINED WITH THESE COLD TEMPERATURES WILL LEAD TO DANGEROUS
WIND
CHILLS OF 5 TO 15 BELOW ZERO...ESPECIALLY AT ELEVATIONS ABOVE
3500 FT.
..MONDAY...COLD WAVE POSSIBLE.
..TUESDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
..WEDNESDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
..THURSDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGE TO REPORT SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS
TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ035>037-056-057-062>065-068>072-082-
501>510-SCZ001>014-019-072015-
RABUN-HABERSHAM-STEPHENS-FRANKLIN-HART-ELBERT-ALEXANDER-IREDELL-
DAVIE-CATAWBA-ROWAN-MACON-SOUTHERN JACKSON-TRANSYLVANIA-HENDERSON-
CLEVELAND-LINCOLN-GASTON-MECKLENBURG-CABARRUS-UNION-
CALDWELL MOUNTAINS-GREATER CALDWELL-BURKE MOUNTAINS-GREATER BURKE-
MCDOWELL MOUNTAINS-EASTERN MCDOWELL-RUTHERFORD MOUNTAINS-
GREATER RUTHERFORD-POLK MOUNTAINS-EASTERN POLK-OCONEE MOUNTAINS-
PICKENS MOUNTAINS-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS-GREATER OCONEE-
GREATER PICKENS-GREATER GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG-CHEROKEE-YORK-
ANDERSON-ABBEVILLE-LAURENS-CHESTER-GREENWOOD-
301 PM EST FRI JAN 6 2017

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 PM EST
SATURDAY...

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

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.

   WINTER STORM WARNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.

..SATURDAY...WINTER STORM LIKELY. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST CAEWSWGSP
FOR DETAILS.
..SUNDAY...COLD WAVE POSSIBLE. AN ARCTIC AIR MASS WILL BUILD INTO
THE REGION...BRINGING EXCEPTIONALLY COLD TEMPERATURES.
..MONDAY...COLD WAVE POSSIBLE.
..TUESDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
..WEDNESDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
..THURSDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGE TO REPORT SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS
TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

07

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 6, 2:09 PM EST, 1 hour 51 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jan 6, 2:30 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jan 6, 2:31 PM EST, 1 hour 29 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jan 6, 3:01 PM EST, 59 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

12 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Madison

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Madison forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.858, -82.706 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Swain

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Swain forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.487, -83.493 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Haywood

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Haywood forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.556, -82.982 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Buncombe

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Buncombe forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.611, -82.530 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Graham

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Graham forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.350, -83.834 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Macon

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Macon forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.150, -83.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Jackson

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.287, -83.141 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Jackson

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.287, -83.141 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Transylvania

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Transylvania forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.202, -82.798 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Henderson

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Henderson forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.336, -82.480 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Polk Mountains

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Polk Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.279, -82.170 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Rutherford Mountains

When: January 6, 4:00 PM EST to January 7, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Rutherford Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 35.402, -81.920 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in North Carolina in 2017 Every state in 2017 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, January 2017

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: 675016, 675017, 675018, 675019, 675020, 675021, 675022, 675023, 675024, 675025, 675026, 675027.