With mid-50s temperatures, no white Christmas for the Outer Banks in 2024
Despite cold temperatures that lingered over the weekend, Christmas snow won’t be making an appearance on the Outer Banks in 2024, per an update from the National Weather Service (NWS) Newport/Morehead City office.
“Looking ahead to Christmas, temperatures will gradually moderate after a chilly day [Sunday], with highs in the mid-50s forecast for Eastern North Carolina on Christmas and Christmas Eve,” stated stated the NWS in an online update.
While snowfall is extremely rare on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, (with less than a 10% chance of a white Christmas year after year), it is not unheard of.
The most famous snowfall in the past few decades is the Christmas Blizzard of 1989, (which brought 13.3 inches of snow from December 23 through Christmas Day), although virtually every year brings flurries or a light dusting of snow to the Outer Banks.
2018 had a New Year’s “Snowicane,” with soundside flooding, wind gusts in excess of 60 mph, and roughly three inches of accumulating snowfall, and more recently, accumulating snow was recorded at varying times in both January 2021 and January 2020.
This year, however, residents and visitors can expect warmer weather conditions on Christmas Day, with a low risk of hazardous weather.
For more information on the local forecast, which includes the Christmas Day forecast, visit www.weather.gov/mhx, or the NWS Newport/Morehead City’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NWSMoreheadCity/.
