Snowless winter unlikely to repeat
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Jan. 4—HIGH POINT — Snow was a no-go last winter in the greater High Point area.
The winter of 2022-23 featured only flurries or trace amounts of snow for the first time in 31 years. But forecasters say that the meteorological odds work against a snowless winter for the second season in a row.
"It's pretty unlikely," said Brian Slocum, meteorologist with WXII-TV.
Since 1930, there have been nine local winter seasons with no snow or only a trace, according to National Weather Service records. The High Point area averages 8.7 inches of snow for a winter season, with the bulk — 5.6 inches — falling during January and February.
So, the snowless local winter of 2022-23 was an aberration, Slocum said.
"We usually don't get a lot of snow each winter, but you can usually count on at least a couple of small snows each winter," he said.
The High Point area and the greater Piedmont Triad may get their first winter weather later this week, but not snow. A system working its way from the western United States could bring freezing rain or sleet to the central part of North Carolina early Saturday morning, though temperatures are expected to push past the freezing mark later in the morning and change the precipitation to a cold rain.
"It's going to be rainy and in the 30s most of Saturday," Slocum told The High Point Enterprise.
The High Point area recorded its last measurable snowfall during the winter of 2021-22, with nearly 2 inches on Jan. 29, 2022, according to National Weather Service records.
One factor that heightens the chance of snow locally for this winter is a shift in the global weather model.
"What's different this year compared to the last two or three winters is that the main global-influencing pattern now is El Nino where it has been La Nina," Slocum said. "In the La Nina pattern the Southeast U.S. can expect a milder winter. In an El Nino pattern in the Southeast, it tends to be a much wetter winter. So, it increases the likelihood that if you can get cold air during one of those winter storms you can get snow."
pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul
