History with ‘Hud’: Remembering 154 years of snowfall events across Cape Fear
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — We’re in the final days of fall, with winter officially arriving on Saturday. While much of the country begins to think about snow as the coldest months of the year arrive, Wilmington’s winter wonderland scenes are a little more rare.
While the Port City tends to get cold rain or ice events instead of the fluffy white stuff, the area has seen a few significant snowstorms over its history.
The U.S. Army Signal Corps started sporadic snowfall observations for Wilmington on December 1, 1870.
The first measurable snowfall (being more than a trace or a few flakes) was recorded just a few weeks into record-keeping, coming on December 23, 1870.
1896 would see the snowiest day in Wilmington’s history, when 11.1″ fell on February 18 in downtown.
The most snow to collectively fall in a calendar year came in 1912, with 19.4″ of total accumulation over five days through the year.
1922 brought the earliest measurable snow event, with 0.2″ falling on November 27, just four days after Thanksgiving. On the flip side, the latest snowfall recorded in Wilmington arrived in 1947, when 0.1″ accumulated on March 26.
Wilmington’s most famous snow event came more than four decades later, taking place over three days from December 22 through 24 of 1989. 15.3″ of snow fell from a storm pushing up the coast. More than a foot was still leftover on the ground by the morning of Christmas Day, but Wilmington has still never seen measurable snow to fall specifically on December 25.
As a whole, it’s snowed at least once during every month from November through March. But January is our most common snow month in terms of event number. Although some people aren’t fond of the slippery-conditions snowstorms bring, many residents over the years have enjoyed the change of pace.
“This is unusual to see snow over here,” said a resident on WWAY during a 1980s snowstorm. “People say it’s cold. But I like it.”
While that 20th century event brought a dusting along the coast, the most recent snowfall of more than an inch took place in January of 2018, with 3.8″ falling on the 3rd into the 4th. 2022 brought our most recent accumulating snowfall, with 0.5″ falling in the morning hours of January 29, 2022 before quickly melting.
We’re on track to have one of the warmest years on record for the Port City, making snow chances this year a long shot as usual. But snow lovers like myself still hold on to the stats of winter’s past to keep the winter wonderland dreams alive heading into this season.
Meteorologist Matthew Huddleston (‘Hud’) has always had two major loves – weather and history. While you can watch him talk about weather each morning on WWAY, he looks forward to bringing you a little piece of history each Thursday on WWAY’s website.
To read other History with ‘Hud’ segments, click HERE.
