Source:  Corey Davis, NC CLIMATE OFFICE, 9/3/20


August in North Carolina began and ended with rain from tropical systems, and there was plenty of rain in between as well. Temperatures remained warmer as we closed out a warm, wet summer that was noteworthy for a few reasons.

Widespread Wet Weather
North Carolina took a soaking throughout August, accumulating a statewide average precipitation of 7.84 inches, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). It was our 13th-wettest August since 1895, and the wettest since 1992.

The month was bookended by tropical systems that brought rain on either end of the state. On August 3, Hurricane Isaias made landfall at the southern coast and left 3 to 4 inches of rain across parts of eastern North Carolina, as well as gusty winds and isolated tornadoes that caused localized damage from our southernmost beaches to the Virginia border.
On the final weekend of the month, the remnants of Hurricane Laura moved through as a strong low-pressure system. The main impacts were across western North Carolina, with up to an inch of rain in Cherokee and winds gusting to 30 mph on Saturday, August 29.

Even ignoring those two storms, it was still an unusually active August in terms of weather systems and rainfall. A stalled frontal boundary lingered across the western Piedmont from August 5 to 9, producing 4.02 inches of rain over a three-day period at our Spindale ECONet station in Rutherford County.

For the full report, click here.