Top Ten Weather Events in 2008

Story by Dr. Ray Russell, RaysWeather.com

2008’s weather could be described as “non-eventful”; it was the “non-events” (the lack of rain and snow) that were the biggest weather stories of the year. The table here gives an overview of the weather in Boone and atop Beech Mountain. These two locations were chosen to give a snapshot of the year because we have excellent data from these two locations and they show differences between higher elevations and lower elevations.

The overall story told in this table is near normal temperatures with much below normal precipitation. Everyone seems to like Top 10 lists when looking back at the previous year; so, we have compiled the Top 10 Weather Events of 2008.

10. The 2-week Cold Snap January 13-27.
Overall, last winter was warmer than normal; however, we experienced one extended period of below-normal temperatures. During the two weeks beginning on January 13, temperatures averaged 4° below normal. Boone bottomed out at 6°, and Beech Mountain went down to -4° (both on the morning of January 25).

9. The Mild Finish to 2008.
After four weeks of cold weather November 15 to December 9 (described below), the talk of town was how 2008-2009 was “going to be the coldest ever”. With the exception of December 22-23, temperatures to finish 2008 were well above normal with almost no snow. By December 31, the conversation had changed to “where did winter go?”

8. Snow in October.
Measurable snow in Boone in October is possible but is fairly rare. October 28, Boone recorded .5” of snow; Beech Mountain received 3”.

7.  3” of Rain March 4.
The second biggest rain event in 2008 came March 4. Beech Mountain recorded 2.93” with 3.18” in Boone.

6. Near-record Heat June 4-9.
The warmest weather of 2008 actually came in late spring. The High Country experienced near-record warmth for five days in early June. Boone tied the record high on June 6 at 86° and set a new record high on June 9 at 88° (the warmest temperature in Boone for 2008). Beech Mountain’s highest temperature of the year was 78° on June 9.

5. Cold Beginning to the Winter Season.
With an average temperature of 32.4° in Boone, the last two weeks of November were the third coldest on record. (1950 was the coldest second half of November on record with an average temperature of 28.8°, 1929 is next with an average temperature of 31.9°.) Also, October and November brought the twelfth snowiest start to the winter season ever recorded with 5.7" in Boone. (1968 was the snowiest October-November ever with 17.5" of snow in Boone.) Beech Mountain reported 16.1" of total snow in October-November. Colder than normal weather continued until December 9.

4. Coldest temperature in over 3 years.
In spite of the last three weeks of December being warmer than normal overall, December 22 was the coldest day in almost 4 years. The temperature in Boone dropped to 3°, and Beech fell to -5°. To find a colder temperature in Boone, one must go back to January 19, 2005 (2°). The last time it was colder atop Beech Mountain was December 21, 2004 (-10°).

3. Tropical Storm Fay.
Tropical storms and hurricanes are normally considered “bad events”, But Tropical Storm Fay became the Perfect Storm for the High Country. The remnants of Tropical Storm Fay passed through the High Country August 25-28. This storm brought large quantities of much needed rain; however, virtually no flooding was reported. We called it the Perfect Storm because it brought about the most rain we could stand without damage. Boone recorded 7.02” from Fay while Beech Mountain recorded 5.16”. More rain was reported right along the Blue Ridge where over 9” fell in spots.

2. Very Little Snow Last Winter.
As mentioned in the introduction to this article, the big events in 2008 were actually “non-events”. With only 16” of snow in Boone, the winter of 2007-2008 had the fourth least snow of any winter season since 1960. Beech Mountain recorded 44.1” of snow. Those totals were 40% to 50% below normal annual snowfall.

1. Drought.
By far, the biggest weather story in the High Country in 2008 was the drought. Total rainfall in Boone for 2008 was 40.56” (roughly 25% below normal annual rainfall of 53.92”). The situation atop Beech Mountain was somewhat better at 47.98” in 2008 (about 12% below normal annual rainfall of 54.13”). We are now two years into significant drought conditions—2007 rain totals were similar to 2008. The economic impacts of this drought have been far-reaching: dry wells, extremely low stream and lake levels, agricultural effects (particularly the availability of hay), and many more. In the past two years, we have missed almost 6 months of rainfall; so, it will take a long time to climb out of this drought hole.

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