A Winter Blanket Covers North Carolina
Science reports that in late January 2026 a strong, moisture-laden storm dropped snow across nearly the entire state. A NASA Earth Observatory image acquired on February 2 with the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite shows a nearly continuous blanket of white stretching from mountain cities in the west to beachfront towns in the east.
The North Carolina State Climate Office said measurable snow fell in all 100 counties for the first time in more than a decade. During the January 31 weekend event, Arctic air lingered across the state as a storm tracked near shore, producing widespread snow and totals that exceeded a foot in some western, mountainous regions while places such as Asheville saw smaller amounts.
The storm pushed south into Greenville, South Carolina, where the downtown area saw about 5 inches by the evening of January 31, according to the National Weather Service.