surviving nc

Central North Carolina almost never gets measurable snow, and it’s usually not very cold in the winter. I’ve been here 27 years and save for one 22-inch snowfall in January 2001, we’ve been forced to make do with an occasional dusting that is usually harmless and gone within a day. Outliers to this statement do exist as was the case in 2005 when a mere inch of snow fell mid-day, perfectly coordinating with an early release of local schools which caused roads to melt, and quickly refreeze, ensuring gridlock for the next twelve hours and launching ever-evolving versions of an internet meme, sometimes with the Stay Puf Marshmallow man, and other times Godzilla, that still exists to this day). By February, it is not entirely out of the realm to find people lounging on the deck enjoying 70 degree weather. The Raleigh area truly enjoys a pretty solid climate three out of four seasons of the year. (Summer is the fourth season and 9th level of hell and I refuse to talk about it).

Because of this snow desert, the local news media tends to get a little overzealous with the weather reporting whenever there has been a stretch of colder than usual temperatures and the slightest inkling of winter precipitation. Meaning that at least a week out, social media is inundated with near constant updates from our local meterologists about what could happen, along with plenty of warnings that nothing might happen at all. This is accompanied by sincere explanations of how difficult it is for conditions to be just right here for snow and how equally difficult it is to really predict. Nevertheless they try hard, bless their hearts.

This exact winter weather scenario actually did just happen, twice, over the last two weeks. First, there was the last weekend of January, which brought dire predictions of a historic ice storm that they said could cause power outages for days, or maybe even weeks. Knowing an ice storm in North Carolina is no joke, we stocked up. Beer, wine, firewood, the works. In the end, the weather was underwhelming. I worked remotely on Monday, everything melted by Monday night, and we walked away from the whole thing with extra alcohol and all trees still intact.

And yet … no sooner had the ice receded than the weather professionals were at it again, this time predicting a bomb cyclone they were certain was going to dump a foot of snow on all of North Carolina just one week later. Off we went to the store. More wine, more beer, more firewood. Some chocolate. Friday night came and we waited. Saturday dawned grey and bare and we waited some more. At noon, the weathermen started talking about a dreaded “dry slot” which aside from sounding a bit untoward, was also an annoying phenomenon that caused Raleigh and its suburbs to appear on the radar as dry and empty as the bottom of the Red Sea when Moses parted it.

Everyone else was getting snow. Except for us. A week’s worth of excitement, predictions, and alarmist rhetoric led us to this farily dismal situation. Tempers in our household were getting short. We could have been skiing at Beech Mountain damn it! (okay, it was about five degrees at Beech so maybe not but that was no consolation to my daughter in the moment). Fortunately, all was not lost. The dry slot finally closed its little self up around 6 pm Saturday, a full 20 hours after the snow was supposed to start, and allowed the moisture to the west and the east to converge long enough to give us about three inches on the ground. That’s six less then Durham got, but I’m not bitter.

Now with this historic snow finally on the ground, you’d think the weather people would be happy. Not so. They moved on to breathless dire warnings to parents to keep their kids inside – kids who’d spent the entire week being teased by the delicious prospect of sledding and snowball fights – lest they succumb to frostbite in the terrible temperatures. Let me tell you that parents, who’d had their kids at home for an entire week due to lingering icy spots on the roads from the prior weekend’s non-event and who were facing another three plus days until the snow melted from every single parking lot in the county, were not having it. And neither were we.

With the storm gone and a Carolina blue sky and bright sunshine in its place, we poked our heads outside and decided it was perfect weather for a hike. Naturally. Besides, the roads were clear-ish and we had a Subaru so we felt pretty solid about driving over to Durant Nature Park, a nice little area that’s respectably close. Plus we had cold weather gear. And Slim Jims. Off we went.

The parking lot was fairly empty, save for people sledding on the hills at the entrance. And while it’s always nice to go for a hike in the woods, doing it when there’s ample snow on the ground is an entirely different level of peaceful. Temperatures hovered around 36 degrees – not uncomfortable (or frostbite inducing) with the sun to warm us. We were not the first people to have the same idea that day. Ample footprints proved others had beaten us to it – humans, deer, birds, perhaps a fox. Maybe a yeti. And they too would have had the pleasure of seeing the stark brown branches of trees against the white snow, the golden leaves of birch trees still hanging on even amongst moderate gusts of wind, a stream half frozen, and ducks meandering out on the lake. Winter days here are often beautiful, snow or not, and very unlike my childhood memories of Maryland where the sky always seemed to be an oppressive grey.

By Monday morning, the main roads had melted, side roads were passable, and while the temperatures remain unseasonably cold, the forecast for next week is indicating 60 degrees. We are hoping the cold weather and snow in the mountains will hang on for a few more weeks – skiing is still on the table – but while we could get another cold snap here, it’s reasonable to say the threat of an ice storm or blizzard will not visit us again this year.

I will remember Sunday’s hike fondly, especially when July rolls around and it seems impossible we could ever have been wearing that many layers of clothes or that it was cold enough for the water to freeze, and I will hope for another day that is so perfect for a walk in the woods.