National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
432 PM EST TUE JAN 5 2010

...2009 WEATHER YEAR IN REVIEW...

THE YEAR OF 2009 WILL GO INTO THE CLIMATE BOOKS AS COOLER THAN 
NORMAL FOR MOST PARTS OF THE EASTERN CAROLINAS. IT WILL BE 
REMEMBERED AS THE FIRST YEAR SINCE 2001 WHERE NO TROPICAL STORM
OR HURRICANE WATCHES OR WARNINGS WERE ISSUED FOR THIS PORTION OF THE 
NORTH OR SOUTH CAROLINA COASTLINE. (STORMS IN RECENT YEARS HAVE 
INCLUDED HANNA 2008...GABRIELLE 2007...ERNESTO 2006...OPHELIA 
2005...CHARLIE AND GASTON 2004...ISABEL 2003...AND KYLE 2002)

A PAIR OF SNOWSTORMS AFFECTED THE AREA IN JANUARY AND EARLY 
FEBRUARY. ACCUMULATIONS FROM THE FIRST STORM ON JANUARY
20TH REACHED ONE INCH IN WILMINGTON WITH 3 INCHES RECORDED IN TABOR 
CITY AND DILLON. FOUR INCHES FELL NEAR MAXTON AND IN THE BLADEN 
COUNTY COMMUNITY OF TAR HEEL. THE SECOND SNOW EVENT ON FEBRUARY 4TH 
SAW WIDESPREAD ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE INCH OR LESS...BUT A SWATH FROM 
DARLINGTON TO FLORENCE AND MARION PICKED UP 2 TO 2.5 INCHES.

THE GROWING SEASON GOT A LATE START WITH THE LAST SPRING FREEZE NOT 
OCCURRING UNTIL APRIL 8TH ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. HOWEVER...THE 
LENGTH OF GROWING SEASON TURNED OUT TO BE ABOUT AVERAGE FOR INLAND 
COUNTIES SINCE THE FIRST HARD FREEZE DID NOT OCCUR UNTIL NOVEMBER 
28TH...2 TO 3 WEEKS LATER THAN AVERAGE. EVEN THOUGH MOST AREAS FELL 
TO FREEZING ON NOVEMBER 28TH...WILMINGTON DID NOT RECORD ITS FIRST 
OFFICIAL FREEZE UNTIL DECEMBER 12TH. THIS WAS THE 8TH LATEST 
FIRST-FREEZE ON RECORD IN WILMINGTON...AND ALLOWED THE GROWING 
SEASON TO LAST 281 DAYS: THE 11TH LONGEST ON RECORD. THE GROWING 
SEASON LASTED 212 DAYS AT LUMBERTON...233 AT FLORENCE...AND 286 AT 
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH.

THE SPRING SEVERE WEATHER SEASON WAS FAIRLY ACTIVE. AN EF0 TORNADO
TOUCHED DOWN JUST SOUTHEAST OF LUMBERTON ON MARCH 27TH...AND AN
EF2 TORNADO OCCURRED ON APRIL 6TH NEAR CLARKTON IN BLADEN COUNTY. 
THIS BLADEN COUNTY TORNADO HAD WINDS ESTIMATED AT 115 MPH AND 
DAMAGED SEVERAL HOUSES. GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED FROM SEVERE 
THUNDERSTORMS ON APRIL 14TH NEAR WHITEVILLE...ON MAY 11TH IN 
WILMINGTON...AND ON JUNE 1ST ACROSS SEVERAL LOCATIONS IN INLAND 
HORRY COUNTY SC. MICROBURSTS...WHICH CAN PRODUCE WINDS AS STRONG AS 
TORNADOES...OCCURRED ON MAY 11TH ACROSS SOUTHERN ROBESON COUNTY AND 
INJURED ONE PERSON ON JUNE 15TH EAST OF BLADENBORO. ON JULY 6TH 
HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS DROPPED 6 TO 8 INCHES OF RAIN IN WILMINGTON 
LEADING TO SERIOUS FLASH FLOODING. A SIMILAR EVENT IN GEORGETOWN ON 
JULY 13TH FLOODED THE HISTORIC DOWNTOWN AREA WITH OVER A FOOT OF 
WATER. 

ALTHOUGH HURRICANE BILL REMAINED WELL EAST OF THE CAROLINA COASTLINE
WITH NO DIRECT IMPACT...LARGE SWELLS MOVED THROUGH THE COASTAL WATERS
FOR SEVERAL DAYS AS THE STORM MADE ITS CLOSEST APPROACH. ON AUGUST 
22ND LIFEGUARDS REPORTED A LARGE NUMBER OF RESCUES FROM RIP CURRENTS 
AND ROUGH SURF CONDITIONS.

AT THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER MOST OF THE AREA WAS EXPERIENCING A D0 
DROUGHT AND ACCUMULATED RAINFALL DEFICITS RANGED FROM 6 TO 10 INCHES. 
MAJOR RAINFALL EVENTS IN SEPTEMBER HIT NEW HANOVER AND PENDER 
COUNTIES WITH MONTHLY TOTALS ECLIPSING 9 INCHES IN WILMINGTON AND 
18 INCHES AT SURF CITY. HEAVY RAIN ACROSS EASTERN PENDER COUNTY 
ON SEPTEMBER 7TH WASHED OUT HIGHWAYS AND LEFT MANY OTHERS 
IMPASSIBLE. OVER 9 INCHES OF RAIN WAS REPORTED IN SURF CITY ON 
SEPTEMBER 7TH ALONE.

OCTOBER WAS A MONTH OF TEMPERATURE EXTREMES AS A RECORD HIGH 
TEMPERATURE WAS SET AT WILMINGTON ON THE 10TH WITH NEAR RECORD HIGHS 
AT THE OTHER LOCATIONS. BY THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH RECORD LOW 
MAXIMUMS WERE SET WITH SOME STATIONS SEEING 60 DEGREE TEMPERATURE 
FALLS BETWEEN THE 10TH AND 20TH OF THE MONTH. OCTOBER ENDED UP WITH 
WELL BELOW NORMAL DAYTIME HIGHS...MONTHLY DEPARTURES RANGED FROM 
-2.5 DEGREES AT WILMINGTON TO -4.4 AT DARLINGTON AND -4.8 AT MARION. 
TEMPERATURES RECOVERED BY NOVEMBER THOUGH WITH WILMINGTON RECORDING 
ITS ALL TIME WARMEST MONTHLY AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE...AND NORTH 
MYRTLE BEACH HAVING A +6.8 DEGREE DEPARTURE FOR THE SAME STATISTIC. 

THE REST OF THE AREA FINALLY GOT IN ON THE ACTION IN NOVEMBER AS 
MOISTURE FROM THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM IDA PRODUCED 3 INCHES 
OF RAIN OVER WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY...TO OVER 9 INCHES IN PENDER 
COUNTY. THE SIGNIFICANT RAIN CONTINUED INTO DECEMBER WITH WILMINGTON 
BREAKING ITS ALL TIME DECEMBER RAINFALL RECORD AND FLORENCE REACHING 
9TH ON ITS LIST. BY THE END OF 2009 THE DROUGHT HAD LIFTED AND THE 
CAPE FEAR REGION WAS EXPERIENCING AN UNUSUALLY MOIST PERIOD.


*** WILMINGTON NC 2009 CLIMATE DATA (PRELIMINARY) ***
    AVG HI/DEP  AVG LO/DEP  AVG T/DEP  WARMEST  COOLEST  PRECIP/DEP
JAN  54.5/-1.8   35.9/+0.1  45.2/-0.9  73/6TH   15/17TH  2.01/-2.50
FEB  58.6/-0.9   35.5/-2.0  47.1/-1.4  74/8TH   19/6TH   1.61/-2.05
MAR  63.9/-1.4   43.5/-0.2  53.7/-1.3  84/9TH   19/4TH   3.57/-0.65
APR  73.8/-0.3   52.5/+1.3  63.2/+0.6  85/26TH  34/17TH  1.67/-1.27
MAY  80.4/-0.2   63.1/+3.3  71.7/+1.5  89/31ST  48/12TH  6.52/+2.12
JUN  87.2/+0.8   70.2/+2.6  78.7/+1.7  95/20TH  66/10TH  3.80/-2.83
JUL  88.1/-1.7   71.0/-1.3  79.5/-1.6  96/1ST   63/10TH  9.67/+2.05
AUG  88.4/+0.1   72.7/+1.7  80.5/+0.9  97/11TH  68/24TH  6.33/-0.98
SEP  81.8/-2.3   65.2/-0.6  73.5/-1.5  89/25TH  52/30TH  8.75/+1.96
OCT  73.2/-2.5   55.8/+1.9  64.5/-0.3  89/10TH  38/20TH  2.09/-1.12
NOV  67.1/-0.7   48.5/+3.4  57.8/+1.3  81/1ST   35/28TH  4.85/+1.59  
DEC  57.3/-2.3   38.1/-0.0  47.7/-1.2  73/9TH   25/29TH  8.86/+5.08
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ANN  72.4/-1.6   54.3/+0.8  63.6/-0.2  97       15      59.73/+2.68

DAYS WITH PRECIPITATION...  0.01 OR GREATER:  130
                            0.10 OR GREATER:   72
                            0.50 OR GREATER:   34
                            1.00 OR GREATER:   16
                      MAX IN 24-HOUR PERIOD: 6.52

AVERAGE OBSERVED RELATIVE HUMIDITY: 71 PERCENT

DEGREE DAYS... HEATING DEGREE DAYS: 2440   COOLING DEGREE DAYS: 2053

THERE WERE 37 DAYS WITH HIGHS 90+  ...AND 39 DAYS WITH LOWS 32 OR 
BELOW.  AVERAGE WIND SPEED WAS 7.3 MPH AND THE PEAK GUST WAS 51 MPH
OBSERVED ON JANUARY 7TH.


*** FLORENCE SC 2009 CLIMATE DATA (PRELIMINARY) ***                  
    AVG HI/DEP  AVG LO/DEP  AVG T/DEP  WARMEST  COOLEST  PRECIP/DEP
JAN  53.8/-1.7   34.7/-0.5  44.3/-1.0  73/5TH   14/17TH  1.55/-2.53
FEB  59.5/-0.3   35.3/-2.2  47.4/-1.3  76/11TH  20/6TH   2.11/-0.92
MAR  64.7/-3.2   43.3/-1.1  54.0/-2.2  85/11TH  18/4TH   3.17/-0.83
APR  75.3/-0.7   50.8/-0.2  63.0/-0.5  90/24TH  32/8TH   1.59/-1.19
MAY  81.1/-1.8   61.8/+1.9  71.5/+0.1  91/31ST  48/19TH  6.20/+2.93
JUN  89.0/+0.6   69.2/+1.6  79.1/+1.1  96/27TH  63/2ND   4.64/+0.34
JUL  90.0/-1.3   69.5/-2.1  79.8/-1.6  96/1ST   63/4TH   5.08/-0.24
AUG  89.8/+0.3   71.3/+0.9  80.6/+0.6  97/11TH  65/25TH  2.22/-3.22
SEP  84.9/+0.2   63.9/-1.1  74.4/-0.5  93/25TH  48/30TH  0.90/-2.77
OCT  73.8/-2.1   53.5/+0.6  63.6/-0.8  89/9TH   37/20TH  3.13/+0.20
NOV  65.6/-1.9   45.3/+1.1  55.4/-0.4  77/15TH  28/28TH  4.75/+2.16 
DEC  53.6/-4.9   35.4/-2.0  44.5/-3.5  76/9TH   24/21ST  5.04/+1.57
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ANN  73.4/-1.4   52.8/-0.3  63.1/-0.9  97       14      40.38/-4.51

DAYS WITH PRECIPITATION...  0.01 OR GREATER:  128
                            0.10 OR GREATER:   72
                            0.50 OR GREATER:   25
                            1.00 OR GREATER:   11
                      MAX IN 24-HOUR PERIOD: 2.71

AVERAGE OBSERVED RELATIVE HUMIDITY: 71 PERCENT

DEGREE DAYS... HEATING DEGREE DAYS: 2621   COOLING DEGREE DAYS: 2052

THERE WERE 57 DAYS WITH HIGHS 90+ ...AND 43 DAYS WITH LOWS 32 OR 
BELOW.  AVERAGE WIND SPEED WAS 6.4 MPH AND THE PEAK GUST WAS 59 MPH
OBSERVED ON JANUARY 7TH.


*** NORTH MYRTLE BEACH SC 2009 CLIMATE DATA (PRELIMINARY) ***                  
    AVG HI/DEP  AVG LO/DEP  AVG T/DEP  WARMEST  COOLEST  PRECIP/DEP
JAN  54.1/-2.4   37.3/+0.5  45.7/-1.0  67/7TH   17/17TH  2.12/-1.18
FEB  57.5/-0.3   37.5/-0.4  47.5/-0.4  74/8TH   19/6TH   1.65/-1.65
MAR  62.0/-0.8   44.5/+0.8  53.3/-0.0  84/9TH   21/4TH   3.10/-1.50
APR  71.3/-0.2   53.3/+1.3  62.3/+0.5  78/29TH  36/17TH  1.23/-1.37
MAY  78.3/-0.4   64.7/+4.0  71.5/+1.8  85/31ST  50/12TH  4.15/+1.05
JUN  86.6/+2.0   71.6/+3.5  79.1/+2.7  96/20TH  68/24TH  4.37/-0.93
JUL  86.3/-0.5   72.0/+0.5  79.1/-0.1  91/1ST   63/4TH   5.36/-1.34
AUG  87.8/+1.5   74.6/+3.7  81.2/+2.6  92/11TH  71/25TH  2.94/-2.96
SEP  84.7/+2.4   67.6/+1.8  76.1/+2.0  88/28TH  54/30TH  2.66/-3.04
OCT  75.1/+0.6   58.3/+3.8  66.7/+2.2  91/10TH  39/20TH  2.93/-0.17
NOV  67.7/+2.1   50.1/+6.8  54.5/+4.4  79/1ST   34/28TH  6.06/+3.16 
DEC  57.4/-0.5   40.5/+3.4  48.9/+1.4  71/2ND   28/30TH  8.70/+5.40
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ANN  72.4/+0.3   56.0/+2.5  64.2/+1.4  96       17      45.27/-4.53

DAYS WITH PRECIPITATION...  0.01 OR GREATER:  126
                            0.10 OR GREATER:   80
                            0.50 OR GREATER:   30
                            1.00 OR GREATER:    6
                      MAX IN 24-HOUR PERIOD: 4.40

AVERAGE OBSERVED RELATIVE HUMIDITY: 72 PERCENT

DEGREE DAYS... HEATING DEGREE DAYS: 2304   COOLING DEGREE DAYS: 2134

THERE WERE 22 DAYS WITH HIGHS 90+ ...AND 30 DAYS WITH LOWS 32 OR 
BELOW.  AVERAGE WIND SPEED WAS 7.4 MPH AND THE PEAK GUST WAS 47 MPH
RECORDED ON JUNE 14TH.



*** LUMBERTON NC 2009 CLIMATE DATA (PRELIMINARY) ***                  
      AVG HI      AVG LO      AVG T   WARMEST   COOLEST    PRECIP
JAN    52.9        34.0       43.5     70/5TH   13/17TH     0.73   
FEB    58.4        34.1       46.3     75/11TH  18/6TH      1.25   
MAR    63.5        42.3       52.9     84/9TH   19/4TH      2.43   
APR    74.9        50.0       62.5     89/24TH  31/8TH      1.92   
MAY    81.6        61.9       71.7     90/31ST  47/12TH     5.35   
JUN    90.4        68.4       79.4     98/20TH  63/2ND      1.35   
JUL    89.3        69.4       79.4     96/1ST   61/4TH      3.89   
AUG    89.2        71.2       80.2     98/10TH  66/25TH     4.75   
SEP    84.1        63.0       73.6     91/15TH  47/30TH     1.80   
OCT    73.5        52.3       62.9     90/9TH   35/20TH     0.70   
NOV    66.1        45.1       55.6     77/8TH   29/28TH     4.45   
DEC    53.5        35.6       44.6     75/9TH   26/30TH     3.98
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ANN    73.1        52.3       62.7     98       13         32.60

DAYS WITH PRECIPITATION...  0.01 OR GREATER:   96
                            0.10 OR GREATER:   60
                            0.50 OR GREATER:   23
                            1.00 OR GREATER:   10
                      MAX IN 24-HOUR PERIOD: 3.16

AVERAGE OBSERVED RELATIVE HUMIDITY: 72 PERCENT

DEGREE DAYS... HEATING DEGREE DAYS: 2725   COOLING DEGREE DAYS: 2011

THERE WERE 55 DAYS WITH HIGHS 90+ ...AND 50 DAYS WITH LOWS 32 OR 
BELOW.  AVERAGE WIND SPEED WAS 5.7 MPH. PEAK WIND GUST VALUE IS 
NOT AVAILABLE.

$$

JDW/TRA