Although it took its sweet time materializing in the Triangle, this past weekend's snowstorm will go down in North Carolina weather history.
Colin Beamer asked WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth, "When was the last time the entire state—every county—got more than 1 inch of snow at the same time? This is such an amazing weather event!"
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Newport, NC, broke a snow record, while most of the state saw at least 6 inches of snow. In our area, most totals were around 2 to 6 inches, though some of us exceeded that with 8 to 10-inch totals.
The answer to that question - March of 1980.
That's according to a database housed by the North Carolina State Climate Office.
Jimmy Carter was President. The Pittsburgh Steelers were Super Bowl champions. The average price of gas was $1.21 to $1.29 per gallon. The song topping the charts was "Another Brick in the Wall Part II" by Pink Floyd.
And I was not even born yet...
How much snow fell during the March 1980 storm?
Perhaps the more impressive storm, the "Storm of the Century" had a more widespread footprint of a foot or more of snow.
You also didn't have the infamous "Raleigh snow hole" during that storm. North and east of the Triangle, there were snow totals of 12 to 24 inches with higher snow drifts due to blizzard conditions.
Your memories
"I remember this snow storm. I was 15 years old. I have a great photo of my dad and I in a tree in the front yard. He had a significant heart issue but he wanted to be sure I experienced the snow with him. He passed away about a year later." - Faith Lowe Boehmer
"I remember that storm. I was a junior at ECU and had never seen anything like it. ECU shut down for 3 days." - Tanya Moore Holland
"Coming off post of Camp Lejeune, the big swooping curve just set every car in motion for spin city like Hot Wheels." - Linda Ellis
"I was a young teenager and living in my hometown of Mt. Olive, the snow was up to the bottom of the street signs/stop signs. The drifts were (probably at least) 6 feet high, my brothers and I dug tunnels all through the drifts!!!! We lost power and I remember my mom heating up Spaghetti-O’s on the old timey oil heater we had. It was AWESOME!" - Carol Brogden Longmire
There are many other memories being shared on this Facebook thread.
How were the two storms similar?
The storms had eerily similar traits - from both an upper level and a surface level point of view. Remember that meteorology is a 3-D science, which is why we take three calculus courses when getting our degree. Thanks, NC State!
From an upper level perspective, there was the (tropospheric) polar vortex diving southward from the Hudson Bay toward Ontario, Quebec and the states that border Canada.
Farther south, a strong upper-level low was fueling rising air and moisture transport. It was in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee and transferring energy toward a new low forming along the East Coast.
That low was at the surface, flinging moisture into our Arctic air, fueling a widespread snowstorm across North Carolina.
The "Raleigh snow hole"
In the 1980 storm, there wasn't really much of a "Raleigh snow hole," like we saw this past weekend.