Climate Summary

Temperature and Precipitation by climate division
Departures from Normal for November 2009 - based on preliminary data.

November 2009 was a little warm and very wet. Statewide temperatures were generally 2 degrees Fahrenheit above normal while rainfall amounts were 1-5 inches above normal. The wettest areas were in the eastern and northern counties, where rainfall amounts for November were greater than 200% of normal.

In a unique set of events, the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida brought heavy rainfall to central and eastern NC in early November. Much of the moisture and energy associated with those remnants then developed into a coastal winter-type storm that continued heavy rains for eastern counties.

November 2009 rainfall ranked within the top 5 wettest Novembers since 1895 for the northern Piedmont, central Piedmont, central Coastal Plain, and northern Coastal Plain climate divisions. For the central Coastal Plain climate division (which includes Johnston, Lenoir, and Carteret Counties), November 2009 ranked as the WETTEST November since 1895. Statewide, precipitation in November 2009 ranks as the 5th wettest since 1895.

Impacts to Agriculture and Water Resources

Across the state, wet conditions have delayed the harvest of remaining soybean and cotton crops. However, winter grain planting is generally on schedule.

Rainfall from the remnants of Ida and the secondary coastal storm brought widespread recovery to all reservoirs and most streams. A few groundwater wells in central NC have not fully recovered, but otherwise drought impacts were not observed by the end of November. Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions remained due to longer-term rainfall deficits in central NC and low groundwater level at monitoring wells in Orange and Moore Counties. The NC Drought Management Advisory Council continues to hold weekly monitoring meetings to closely monitor for drought impacts.

Precipitation for November 2009
Based on estimates from NWS Radar
Data courtesy NWS/NCEP

Precipitation for November 2009: Percent of Normal
Based on estimates from NWS Radar
Data courtesy NWS/NCEP

Change in US Drought Monitoring Status during November 2009
Provided by the NC DENR Division of Water Resources

New Winter Weather Pages!

Courtesy of undergraduate interns Bradley McLamb and Elizabeth Wilson, our office has recently released a new and improved version of the “Winter Weather” section of the SCO website. These new pages include:

• A general climatology discussion of winter weather across the state, along with maps of average annual snowfall and sleet/freezing rain events
  
  
• In-depth explanations of the different winter precipitation types including: snow, sleet, freezing rain, and cold rain
  
  
• Information on different types of snow (i.e. dry vs. wet snow)
  
  
• An overview of both large and small scale atmospheric patterns responsible for winter weather in North Carolina including: cold air outbreaks, cold air damming, and different types of winter storms
  
  
• A breakdown of the impacts winter weather has on North Carolina
  
  
• A detailed study of North Carolina winter weather climatology including storm frequencies, precipitation distribution, precipitation type transitions, and recurrence of winter weather across the state
  
  
• A winter storm database, which allows users to search for winter storms based on the county, date, and/or event type. All results matching a user’s search criteria will be listed in a table with links to more details including an event summary with impacts, a NWS case study (if available), as well as an interactive map containing hourly and/or daily storm data from any available stations in the CRONOS database for that event.
  
  

The new winter weather portion of the website can be accessed through “Aspects of NC Climate” in the main menu, or via the “Highlights” section on the home page:
http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/climate/winter_wx