CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the first time in recorded history, Charlotte saw zero snowfall from Oct. 1 to May 1, chief meteorologist Brad Panovich said Monday.
This past winter also marked the third time in recorded history that Charlotte had zero snowfall from December through February. The last time Charlotte was even this close to having no snow from Oct. 1 to May 1 was 2012 when the Queen City only registered a trace.
In fact, the last time it even snowed in Charlotte was Jan. 29, 2022, with 0.2" falling. When it snowed that day, it was, at the time, the third straight weekend in a row Charlotte experienced snow.
Overall, snowfall in Charlotte has been trending down for some time with only two winters seeing more than 6 inches since 2010, according to Panovich's data. Just a decade ago, the 30-year average for snowfall in Charlotte was 4.4". It's now just 3.5" as climate change impacts our weather in the Carolinas.
While the Charlotte metro didn't see any snowfall this past winter, we did have some cold weather. It was dangerously cold on Christmas Eve and Christmas, with a wind chill of 3 below zero. This led to the Panthers playing the coldest home game in team history with a kickoff temperature of just 20 degrees. Factoring in the wind chill, it felt like a frigid nine degrees in Bank of America Stadium.
The dangerously cold air also caused problems for Duke Energy with prolonged freezing temperatures leading to days of outages and pleas for power conservation across the Carolinas. As many as 500,000 Duke Energy customers lost service on Christmas Eve morning amid near-record low temperatures.
Charlotte's official weather observations are recorded by National Weather Service equipment at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. In order for snow to enter the record-keeping books for Charlotte, snowflakes would need to fall at that one location.
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