North Carolina Weather Facts

Location

North Carolina's 100 counties make up 52,712 square miles of land and water. With the state spanning both mountains and beaches, climates vary widely throughout the year. Within a couple hundred miles, it can vary up to 20 degrees.

Mountains

Temperatures in the North Carolina mountains can dip extremely low but are in general protected by the high mountains of the area. Temperatures can hit 10 degrees during the winter. The lowest recorded temperature was recorded on Jan. 21, 1985, at minus-34 degrees on Mount Mitchell.

Inland/Beaches

North Carolina's central areas and beaches can see prolonged heat waves in the spring and summer, hitting 100 degrees and averaging temperatures in the 90s. Cities near the capital, Raleigh, can average 92 degrees during the summer.

Precipitation

July is the rainiest month in North Carolina, though the state does not have a distinct wet season. Snow and sleet are unlikely in areas other than the mountains, occurring at the most one or two times a year on the coast. Winter snowfall in the mountains can range from 10 inches in the Piedmont area to more than 50 inches on the highest mountain peaks.

Storms

The North Carolina hockey team is named the Hurricanes for a reason: The state feels the impact of a hurricane nearly twice a year, although hurricanes only come through the state about once per decade. The state also experiences two to three tornadoes per year and an average of 40 to 50 thunderstorms per summer.

Fun Fact

According to the State Climate Office of North Carolina, two cities within the state can have widely ranging temperatures on the same day as two states much further apart: Mount Mitchell in the North Carolina mountains can be lower than the temperatures in Buffalo, N.Y., on the same day that temperatures in the North Carolina city of Southport reach higher than interior Florida.