North Carolina extreme cold
Every recorded extreme cold record since 1996 · 97 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 771 extreme cold records in North Carolina from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 29 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the March 8, 1996 cold/wind chill in Transylvania County: 2 deaths across 2 records. North Carolina ranks 27th of 51 states and territories by count and 28th of 50 per square mile.
Extreme cold in North Carolina, 1996 to 2026
Cold records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 7711996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 29average
- Deaths
- 110 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $30Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 202586 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are extreme cold records common in North Carolina?
North Carolina averages about 29 extreme cold records a year since 2000, 27th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2025 (86). Per 10,000 square miles of land, North Carolina records 159 extreme cold records since 1996, 28th of 50 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in North Carolina have the most extreme cold records?
Per square mile, Mitchell County leads North Carolina: 29 days with a extreme cold record since 1996, 131.1 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Jackson County has the most cold records (43 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is the cold season in North Carolina?
54% of its extreme cold records since 1996 fell in January and February. The busiest month is January (262 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 262 · Feb 153 · Mar 109 · Apr 117 · May 0 · Jun 0 · Jul 0 · Aug 0 · Sep 0 · Oct 3 · Nov 39 · Dec 88 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest extreme cold records in North Carolina?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-03-08 | Cold/Wind ChillTransylvania County · forecast zone Transylvania One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. Record cold was at least partially responsible for the deaths of two mountain residents. A homeless man died in Hendersonville and an elderly man in Transylvania county wandered from his home and died from hypothermia. | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 1996-02-12 | Cold/Wind ChillAvery County · forecast zone Avery An elderly woman fell outside her home and then died from hypothermia. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 1996-02-04 | Cold/Wind ChillRowan County · forecast zone Rowan An elderly woman fell outside her home sometime during the night and died from exposure/hypothermia. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 1997-03-15 | Cold/Wind ChillHenderson County · forecast zone Henderson A woman in Hendersonville succombed partly from the cold weather when she was locked outside a home overnight. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 1997-01-11 | Cold/Wind ChillRowan County · forecast zone Rowan A man died outside his home, at least in part because of exposure to the cold. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2008-01-20 | Cold/Wind ChillMecklenburg County · forecast zone Mecklenburg Cold weather was blamed for the death of a homeless man in northwest Charlotte. The low temperature on the 20th was 23 degrees, while the high the previous day was only 36. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2002-01-04 | Extreme Cold/Wind ChillRowan County · forecast zone Rowan A woman died, apparently from expsosure to the cold weather. Her body was found at the steps of her home in the morning. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2017-01-09 | Extreme Cold/Wind ChillSurry County · forecast zone Surry An 85 year old man died after he fell outside of his home and was exposed to cold weather for an unknown period of time. Temperatures on the morning of January 9th were near 10 degrees. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 2000-12-19 | Cold/Wind ChillRowan County · forecast zone Rowan The bitterly cold weather claimed the life of a 50 year-old male. The man was found outside his home, wearing only a few articles of clothing. | 1 | 0 | – | |
| 1996-02-04 | Cold/Wind ChillMecklenburg County · forecast zone Mecklenburg A homeless man on the streets of Charlotte died from exposure/ hypothermia. | 1 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest extreme cold records in North Carolina
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-04-08 | Frost/FreezeHenderson County · forecast zone Henderson One storm episode: 28 records in 27 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $25M | |
| 2007-04-09 | Frost/FreezeWilkes County · forecast zone Wilkes One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $3.1M | |
| 1998-03-11 | Cold/Wind ChillHyde County · forecast zone Western Hyde | 0 | 0 | $634K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are extreme cold records becoming more frequent in North Carolina?
North Carolina's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | North Carolina | United States | North Carolina's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 118 | 5,539 | 2.1% |
| 2000s | 165 | 14,792 | 1.1% |
| 2010s | 252 | 18,162 | 1.4% |
| 2020-26 | 236 | 15,329 | 1.5% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent extreme cold records in North Carolina
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillRutherford County · forecast zone Rutherford Mountains | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillPolk County · forecast zone Polk Mountains | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillUnion County · forecast zone Union | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillRowan County · forecast zone Rowan | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillMecklenburg County · forecast zone Mecklenburg | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillLincoln County · forecast zone Lincoln | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillIredell County · forecast zone Iredell | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillRutherford County · forecast zone Greater Rutherford | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillCaldwell County · forecast zone Greater Caldwell | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillBurke County · forecast zone Greater Burke | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillGaston County · forecast zone Gaston | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-01 | Cold/Wind ChillPolk County · forecast zone Eastern Polk | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for extreme cold records in North Carolina
FEMA has declared 1 disaster in North Carolina for extreme cold, counting its incident type and declarations that name freez in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on March 2, 1977.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977-03-02 | EM-3033 | Drought & Freezing | 30 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
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