Beginning with the remnants of Hurricane Nicole, the Mountains entered a wetter pattern while the coast missed out on that rain and slipped back into Moderate Drought (D1), which remains in place as we begin 2023.Ī viral social media meme claims that North Carolina actually has 12 seasons, and those match up surprisingly well with our weather in 2022. That pattern flip-flopped by mid-November. Meanwhile, eastern North Carolina was soaked by the remnants of Hurricane Ian in late September to tamp down emerging drought there. Cool, dry weather in the Mountains initially made for ideal leaf colors in October, but eventually degraded into Severe Drought (D2). That was particularly apparent in the fall. That’s largely because last year’s dryness was subtle but stubborn, easing and fading, and even skipping around the state from east to west and back again. Statewide seasonal temperature and precipitation rankings for 2022, from NCEI.ĭrought was also present in North Carolina for most of 2022, but at nowhere near the extreme levels as 15 years ago. Each season was also drier than normal, which was the first such occurrence since the drought-plagued 2007. November warmed up once more, while December’s warm beginning and end were balanced by our Christmas cooldown.Īll four seasons last year finished with statewide average temperatures at or above the 1990 to 2020 average – the fourth time that has happened since 2016. By mid- May, our high temperatures had already climbed into the 90s, and that was a sign of things to come as the heat cranked up during June, July, and August.Ī warm start to September ended with a timely temperature drop on the first day of astronomical fall, and seasonable weather continued through October. Four storms in four weeks brought wintry precipitation across the state, including more than a foot of snow in the Mountains during a mid-month storm.įebruary featured warmer weather that continued through the spring. The year began with our dose of winter, neatly packed into the month of January. Percent of normal precipitation for the calendar year in 2022. Wilmington had just 41.34 inches and was 18.8 inches below normal in its 27th-driest year on record. That was its 6th-wettest year on record since 1893 and the 17th time – including each of the past five years – it has eclipsed the 100-inch threshold.Įastern North Carolina was considerably drier, including Tarboro, which recorded only 33.24 inches – more than 14 inches below normal – and its 7th-driest year on record. The wettest spot was Highlands in southern Macon County, with 106.32 inches total. Greensboro had its 32nd-wettest year on record and was 3.8 inches above normal. Areas in the north and west were slightly wetter than normal, including the Triad. Precipitation varied substantially across the state. That made it our 38th-driest year on record in the past 128 years, and the driest since 2012. NCEI reports a statewide average precipitation of 46.39 inches, or 4.38 inches less than the 30-year average. Our precipitation also had plenty of backs and forths throughout the year, but overall, 2022 was slightly drier than normal. Sunny skies over the Crystal Coast in October 2022. Less than a week after that wintry chill, we were back to spring-like weather, ending the year the same way it started. Two days later, a strong cold front sent temperatures crashing down to winter-like levels.Īt the end of the year, an Arctic air blast dropped temperatures into the single digits and even negatives on Christmas Eve. The warmth started early last year, with New Year’s Day high temperatures climbing into the upper 70s. In Raleigh, the 81 days with temperatures at or above 90☏ was the 4th-most of any year. Several sites had one of their top-ten warmest years on record, including Raleigh (3rd-warmest), Wilmington (tied for the 5th-warmest), Lumberton (tied for the 7th-warmest), and Hatteras (tied for the 10th-warmest). The last calendar year in North Carolina finished with a statewide average temperature of 60.0☏, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), which ranks as our 17th-warmest year on record dating back to 1895. The recording is available on our YouTube channel. This post wraps up the past year in North Carolina’s weather and climate in a summary of our recent year-in-review webinar. Ultimately, 2022 was the product of both persistent climate patterns and trends that have become familiar in recent years, along with the return of several weather features we hadn’t seen in a while.

It was a year that started and ended with totally out-of-season weather, and included just about every extreme in between, from hot to cold, wet to dry, and frozen to fire.

Raleigh weather year round