Living Here Guide 2009
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Monday, Sep. 14, 2009

Mild seasons create beautiful weather

Charlotte gets a little bit of everything, but nothing too extreme

By Steve Lyttle - slyttle@charlotteobserver.com
  • 5 memorable weather events

    Sept. 22, 1989: Hurricane Hugo hits Charleston and still has 80 mph sustained winds when it travels inland and reaches Charlotte.

    Dec. 4-5, 2002: A severe ice storm cripples the Piedmont, knocking out power to millions of customers. In the Charlotte area, nearly 79 percent of homes are without power, some for more than a week.

    Feb. 26-27, 2004: More than 13 inches of snow buries Charlotte. Nearly all of it is melted three days later.

    April 8, 2007 (Easter Sunday): The morning low of 21 degrees is the coldest ever in April for Charlotte and enough to destroy much of the summer's peach crop. Yet four days earlier, it had been 80.

    August 2007: Temperatures soar above 100 degrees on six days, equaling Charlotte's all-time record of 104 degrees on Aug. 9 and 10. As is often the case, a withering drought accompanies the heat.

The Carolinas attract people from across the country, and none of them really leaves their old weather behind.

At one time of year or another, we experience nearly every type of weather condition.

While warmth is a staple, we also have a little of everything else – flooding rains, occasional snow and freezing rain, dense fog, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, searing heat, occasional drought, bitter cold and even a hurricane from time to time.

We also experience many days that are downright beautiful.

The bad stuff is relatively rare. The last hurricane to affect Charlotte's metro region directly was Hugo – 20 years ago. Dying hurricanes brought tornadoes and floods in 2004. Our last heavy snow was in February 2004, although we had three small snowfalls last winter.

The underlying theme of Charlotte-area weather is warmth.

Even in mid-January, our average daily high temperature is 50 degrees, and the average low is 30. In mid-July, those average highs and lows are 90 and 71.

Winters typically are chilly and brief, with an occasional freezing rain or snow scare that sends residents to grocery stores for milk and bread. But it's not unheard of to have 70-degree days in December and February. Snow fell last Feb. 4 in Charlotte. Later that week, we had four days with highs in the 70s.

Spring can be unpredictable. Some of Charlotte's heaviest snows have come in March, with the white stuff usually melting within a day or two. Heavy daylong rains can cause flooding, and February through April is tornado season in the Carolinas.

Summer-like temperatures arrive in mid- to late May – a seemingly endless string of days with highs in the upper 80s and 90s, and sometimes the thermometer soars past the 100-degree mark.

Hurricane season lasts into October, but autumn typically is dry and mild. Our first frost sometimes doesn't arrive until mid- or late November.

But we usually don't remember “average” days. It's the unusual weather that sticks in our memories. If that happens, you can count on getting the latest weather news at our Web site, www.charlotteobserver.com.

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