North Carolina, 2020

Winter Storm in North Carolina, February 20 to 21, 2020

February 20 to 21, 2020 · NWS MHX · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

Low pressure developed well off the North Carolina coast February 20th and lifted northeast through February 21st. Rain developed during the afternoon of February 20th and gradually mixed with and changed to snow druing the evening over the mainland counties.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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
8

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 MHX wrote it up.

Low pressure developed well off the North Carolina coast February 20th and lifted northeast through February 21st. Rain developed during the afternoon of February 20th and gradually mixed with and changed to snow druing the evening over the mainland counties. The snow continue through early morning hours of February 21st before ending.

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 Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 20, 4:15 PM EST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 20, 4:15 PM EST, 45 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 20, 3:50 PM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

In the hours before

Local storm report, Feb 20, 2:55 PM EST, 2 hours 5 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Martin

When
February 20, 5:00 PM EST to February 21, 4:00 AM EST
Where
Martin forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
35.842, -77.107 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed to snow during the late afternoon on February 20th and ended during the early morning hours of February 21st. Snowfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches were reported across the county.

Winter Storm, Pitt

When
February 20, 5:00 PM EST to February 21, 4:00 AM EST
Where
Pitt forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
35.594, -77.375 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed to snow during the late afternoon on February 20th and ended during the early morning hours of February 21st. Snowfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches were reported across the county.

Winter Storm, Greene

When
February 20, 6:00 PM EST to February 21, 4:00 AM EST
Where
Greene forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
35.485, -77.676 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed to snow during the late afternoon on February 20th and ended during the early morning hours of February 21st. Snowfall amounts of 3 to 4 inches were reported across the county.

Winter Storm, Duplin

When
February 20, 6:00 PM EST to February 21, 4:00 AM EST
Where
Duplin forecast zone
Reported by
Amateur Radio
Coordinates
34.936, -77.933 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain quickly changed to snow during the early evening hours. Brief periods of heavy snow dropped a quick 1 to 2 inches across the county through the evening. Given the heavy snow rates, roads became slippery and several accidents were reported on Interstate 40.

Winter Storm, Lenoir

When
February 20, 7:00 PM EST to February 21, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Lenoir forecast zone
Reported by
CoCoRaHS
Coordinates
35.239, -77.641 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed to snow during the evening of February 20th and ended during the early morning hours of February 21st. Snowfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches were reported across the county.

Winter Storm, Washington

When
February 20, 7:00 PM EST to February 21, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Washington forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
35.839, -76.569 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed to snow during the evening of February 20th and ended during the early morning hours of February 21st. Snowfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches were reported across the county.

Winter Storm, Beaufort

When
February 20, 8:00 PM EST to February 21, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Beaufort forecast zone
Reported by
CoCoRaHS
Coordinates
35.486, -76.845 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed to snow during the evening of February 20th and ended during the early morning hours of February 21st. Snowfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches reported across the county.

Winter Storm, Northern Craven

When
February 20, 9:00 PM EST to February 21, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Craven forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
35.117, -77.083 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed to snow during the evening of February 20th and ended during the early morning hours of February 21st. Snowfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches were reported across the county.

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, February 2020

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: 869793, 869794, 869795, 869979, 869796, 869797, 869798, 869799.