000 NOUS42 KILM 240023 PNSILM NCZ087-096-097-099>101-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-242200- PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 723 PM EST WED DEC 23 2009 ...TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF A HISTORIC COASTAL SNOWSTORM... 20 YEARS AGO TONIGHT THERE WAS 8 INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND IN WILMINGTON...AND HEAVY SNOW WAS FALLING ACROSS MOST OF THE COASTAL CAROLINAS. THE SINGLE LARGEST SNOWSTORM IN COASTAL CAROLINA HISTORY WAS ONGOING AND SNOWFALL WOULD EVENTUALLY TOTAL 15.3 INCHES AT THE WILMINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THE LAST OF THE BIG ARCTIC BLASTS OF THE 1980S HAD DROPPED TEMPERATURES INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS ACROSS MUCH OF THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES. LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPED ALONG THE ARCTIC FRONT WELL OFFSHORE AND MOISTURE WAS BEING THROWN BACK INTO THE COLD AIRMASS ALONG THE COAST. THE HIGHEST SNOWFALL TOTALS EXTENDED FROM CONWAY SC (13.5 INCHES)... MYRTLE BEACH (14.0 INCHES) AND LORIS (14.5 INCHES) INTO WESTERN BRUNSWICK COUNTY (LONGWOOD: 19.5 INCHES)...THROUGH WILMINGTON (15.3 INCHES) TO CASTLE HAYNE (17.5 INCHES)...THEN ON INTO JACKSONVILLE AND MOREHEAD CITY (16 INCHES). THE SNOW ACCUMULATION GRADIENT ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE STORM WAS VERY TIGHT: MARION REPORTED 8 INCHES... FLORENCE HAD 4.3 INCHES...WITH AMOUNTS WEST OF I-95 GENERALLY IN THE TRACE-TO-2 INCH RANGE. DESPITE BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES SNOW WAS NOT OBSERVED AT ALL WEST OF A LINE FROM COLUMBIA SC TO ROCKINGHAM AND SOUTHERN PINES. WITH SUCH EXTREME SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS THE DISRUPTION TO TRAVEL AND BASIC SERVICES WAS SIMILAR TO THAT EXPERIENCED AFTER A MAJOR HURRICANE. THE WILMINGTON AIRPORT RECORDED 3 OR MORE INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND FOR EIGHT CONSECUTIVE DAYS DURING AND AFTER THE STORM...A RECORD SO UNMATCHED BY ANYTHING ELSE IN THE CLIMATE DATABASE THAT IT MAY REMAIN UNBROKEN FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS TO COME. ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 25 1989 WITH 13 INCHES OF SNOW STILL ON THE GROUND THE WILMINGTON AIRPORT RECORDED ITS ALL TIME RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE...ZERO DEGREES...A FULL 5 DEGREES BELOW THE NEXT COLDEST TEMPERATURE IN THE 135 YEARS OF WILMINGTON CLIMATE HISTORY. OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE EASTERN CAROLINAS ALSO SET THEIR ALL-TIME LOWEST TEMPERATURES THAT MORNING INCLUDING NEW BERN (-4 DEGREES)... WHITEVILLE (-2 DEGREES)...MARION (0 DEGREES)...KINGSTREE (4 DEGREES)...AND CONWAY (8 DEGREES). THESE BEAT OUT THE PREVIOUS ALL-TIME RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES SET JUST A FEW YEARS EARLIER DURING THE HISTORIC ARCTIC BLAST OF JANUARY 1985. $$ TRA