North Carolina
Can lake effect snow happen in North Carolina?
Lake effect snow has been a big talker in recent weeks, as it buried parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York in feet of snow around Thanksgiving.
While this phenomenon is common in that part of the country, I wanted to see if it could happen on a smaller scale in North Carolina.
How does lake effect snow happen?
In order to get lake effect snow, you need a specific temperature differential between the surface and the air roughly 3,000 feet above it.
When arctic air moves over these relatively warmer lakes, lake effect snow gets going.
It is intense at times too, analagous to a summertime thunderstorm. In one town, you can have feet of snow. Miles down the road, you can have virtually nothing.
That’s what happened in Buffalo in late November.
The Buffalo Bills measured more than two feet of snow outside their stadium, while downtown Buffalo didn’t receive any measurable snow.
Just look at these totals from that time frame. They were measuring snow in feet in parts of upstate New York!
So…does it happen in North Carolina?
I found a case study by the North Carolina State Climate Office from January 2014.
In it, they show an example in Rocky Mount and Wilson.
Arctic air was blowing in after a prior snow storm (yeah…when those used to happen, right?!). Meanwhile, Kerr Lake was relatively warm compared to the Arctic air above.
According to the Climate Office, this generated an additional 1 to 2 inches of snow in places like Rocky Mount and Wilson.
The scale of lake effect snow in North Carolina is significantly smaller than that of the Great Lakes.
For example, Lake Erie has a surface area of more than six million acres. On average, it is 62 feet deep and oftentimes closer in proximity to Arctic air masses.
In comparison, Kerr Lake has a surface area of 50,000 acres (.08% the size of Lake Erie) and it has an average depth of 30 feet.
Therefore, the moisture load from Kerr Lake is obviously going to be significantly less than that of Lake Erie.
Any lake effect snow off Kerr Lake would be highly localized and minimal on comparison to the mammoth storms they see up north.
Another round of lake effect snow up north
Beyond our cold front this week, we won’t see lake effect snow.
However, there are several places in Michigan, northeast Ohio, western Pennsylvania and upstate New York that will see a healthy dose of lake effect in the days ahead.
North Carolina
North Carolina man extradited to Pa. for $100,000 ATM theft spree: police
A 42-year-old North Carolina man on Tuesday was extradited to Pennsylvania after state police said he stole more than $100,000 from ATMs in Snyder and Union counties.
Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, Antoni J. Garcia-Cordoba, of Raleigh, North Carolina, stole from four ATMs at Central Penn Bank and Trust locations, state police said.
In a five-hour span, Garcia-Cordoba took $43,000 from three separate ATMs in Snyder and Union counties, according to a police report. On Oct. 1, he stole an additional $58,000 from an ATM in Titusville, bringing the total amount stolen to $101,000.
Garcia-Cordoba is charged with two counts of corrupt organizations – employee, a first-degree felony, and two counts of theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree felony.
After being in custody at a jail in Boone County, Missouri, Garcia-Cordoba was extradited to Union County on Tuesday.
He is being held in the Union County Prison after being unable to post $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
North Carolina
11 firefighters and 2 others injured after North Carolina house fire and explosion
SALISBURY, N.C. — Eleven firefighters and two other people were injured in a house fire explosion in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, officials said.
Salisbury Fire Chief Bob Parnell said firefighters did not have life-threatening injuries but were getting treated for contusions, concussions and smoke inhalation following the fire Monday evening. Two other people were taken to the hospital, but Parnell said he didn’t know their conditions and couldn’t confirm whether they were in the house at the time of the fire.
The Salisbury Fire Department responded to the single-family home around 5 p.m. and found it engulfed in flames.
Eleven of the 22 firefighters at the scene went inside the house to search for occupants and “get water on that fire,” which preceded the explosion, Panell said at a news conference.
“It was enough force that the outside walls blew out, the roof came up and went back down,” Parnell said.
An investigation of the fire and explosion is continuing.
North Carolina
Harrison Bertos scores in OT to help Washington beat N.C. State 3-2 and win first Men’s College Cup
CARY, N.C. (AP) — Harrison Bertos scored 1:54 into overtime after Washington blew a two-goal lead in the second half, and the Huskies beat North Carolina State 3-2 to win the Men’s College Cup at First Horizon Stadium on Monday night.
It was the first national championship for unseeded Washington (16-6-2), who became the first team to win six road matches in the tournament — beating six seeded teams along the way under the guidance of coach Jamie Clark. The Huskies won in their second trip to the final after losing 2-0 to Clemson in 2021.
No. 15 seed N.C. State (16-3-4) made the final for the first time behind coach Marc Hubbard. The Wolfpack were aiming for the school’s first national championship since Jim Valvano led the men’s basketball team to the title in 1983.
Zach Ramsey scored unassisted with 1:12 remaining in the first half and Washington took a 1-0 lead into the break. It was only the second time this season that N.C. State trailed at halftime.
Ramsey scored into an empty net after Wolfpack goalkeeper Logan Erb couldn’t corral the ball at the top of the box. It was Ramsey’s second goal of the tournament.
Richie Aman sent a cross to the center of the goal and Joe Dale knocked it in for a 2-0 lead in the 62nd minute.
Donavan Phillip answered in the 66th, scoring with an assist from Nikola Markovic to cut it to 2-1 with his fourth goal of the tournament. The Wolfpack entered 11-0-1 when Phillip scores.
Taig Healy scored the equalizer with 3:28 remaining with assists from Justin Mclean and Calem Tommy.
Egor Akulov had an assist on Bertos’ winner.
Huskies keeper Jadon Bowton, the only remaining player from the 2021 squad, had five saves.
Erb saved six shots for N.C. State, which was the last school to concede a goal this season.
The temperature was 28 degrees when the match between two teams that had never faced each other began.
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