Winter Storm Event

Heavy Snow, Sleet Started: December 29, 1997 at 5 am EST Ended: December 30, 1997 at 3 pm EST
Snow moved north across the foothills and piedmont during the morning and became heavy north and west of the Charlotte area before ending in the middle of the afternoon. Snowfall ranged between 1 and 4 inches across the southern foothills and southern piedmont, to 4-8 inches across the northern foothills and northwest piedmont. Some of the highest peaks ended up with between 15 and 23 inches of snow. In addition, Macon county in the southern mountains received up to 5 inches of snow before the middle of the morning. There were hundreds of traffic accidents and a few thousand people in the foothills were without power for a while. Moderate to heavy snow developed during the morning hours on the 29th and continued into the morning hours on the 30th. Snow accumulations were generally in the 6 to 10 inch range. A man died of exposure in Pilot after his wheelchair got stuck in the snow and overturned just before midnight on the 29th. Snow fell over the western piedmont with a mixture of snow, sleet, and rain over the central piedmont. Rain fell to the east. Snow developed over the western piedmont of North Carolina just after sunrise and continued through the day. The snow tapered off in the late afternoon. The main rain / snow line set up from near Salisbury northeast to Greensboro and extended northeast to the North Carolina / Virginia border, just west of Roxboro. Snow fell to the west of this line, while rain fell to the east. Along the narrow transition zone from near Salisbury northeast to Roxboro, a mixture of rain and snow fell, occasionally mixed with sleet. Accumulations of snow were heaviest in the city of Winston-Salem and points west and north of the city. Totals there were from 6 to 8 inches, with 4 to 6 inches of snow in Davidson and Guilford counties, including the cities of Lexington and Greensboro. Hundreds of traffic accidents were reported in Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, and Alamance counties. Power outages were also heaviest in Forsyth county.
Injuries	not available	Deaths	not available
Property Damage	not available	Crop Damage	not available
Atmospheric Maps	Large-scale maps of 500 mb Heights, Jet Stream Winds, and Sea Level Pressure from this event
Weather Station Data Snow   Sleet   Freezing Rain   Rain   Mix
X Hourly Data Daily Data Total Snowfall Total Precipitation Primary Precip. Type Minimum Temperature Maximum Wind Speed