Bomb cyclone delivers record snowfall across the Carolinas, Outer Banks

The Outer Banks saw near blizzard conditions, while snow caused over 1,300 crashes in the Southeast. Flurries and iguanas fell in Florida as temperatures plummeted.

As recovery from a historic ice storm continued across parts of the South, a powerful bomb cyclone brought near-blizzard conditions to portions of the Carolinas and southern Virginia this weekend, burying coastal towns in snowdrifts.

After snow ended Saturday night, a swath of 12-16 inches of snow stretched from Charlotte to High Point in North Carolina. The highest reports were a total of a total of 22.5 inches of snow at Faust, in the North Carolina mountains. Other impressive totals included 19.5 inches at Peletier and 17.7 inches in Longwood, both located in the southeastern coastal plain of the state. Although amounts were generally lower in Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia, some locations still reported a foot of snow.

With 11 inches of snow, Charlotte, North Carolina, had the fourth-highest one-day snowfall in the city's history and more than three times their historical average annual snowfall. Wilmington recorded 5.8 inches but did not rank in the top 10. The National Weather Service office at Morehead City, North Carolina, recorded 11.4 inches, its largest snowstorm since records began there in 1996.

The storm comes as thousands across the South, including the Nashville area, remained without power after an ice storm knocked out electricity to more than 1 million customers and was blamed for dozens of deaths tied to extreme cold. More than 100,000 customers are still without power across Mississippi and Tennessee.

AccuWeather experts estimate the total damage and economic loss from last week’s storm at $105 billion to $115 billion. Preliminary estimates for this new storm place losses between $13 billion and $15 billion.

“This bomb cyclone is the latest costly setback amid a relentless stretch of cold, snowy, icy and dangerous winter weather,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. “Some communities have been struggling to clean up and fully rebound from last weekend’s massive winter storm. Now they’re dealing with more costly disruptions and shutdowns. Dangerous cold that surged deeper into Florida is putting more crops and citrus groves at risk, driving losses even higher.” 

Whiteout conditions shut down travel in the Carolinas, Virginia

Snow began to fall across the region Friday night, with accumulations ramping up as snow intensified on Saturday night.

"Conditions are deteriorating rapidly," Extreme Meteorologist Dr. Reed Timmer said while near a snow-covered Interstate 85 near Spartanburg, South Carolina. Traffic was still moving but slowed considerably, with some vehicles traveling at only 15 mph due to the snow.

Half a foot of snow was accompanied by extremely cold air in Asheville, North Carolina, with winds gusting nearly 50 mph and an AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature of 27 degrees below zero on Saturday night.

As the storm intensified along the Atlantic Seaboard, blizzard conditions developed from the northeastern Outer Banks to Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia. The main road on the Outer Banks, Highway 12, was shut down due to the storm.

Over the weekend, winter conditions contributed to more than 1,000 crashes in North Carolina and 300 in Virginia, according to state troopers.

Northeast of Charlotte, a more than 100-vehicle crash shutdown parts of Interstate 85 in Kannapolis. Snow and freezing temperatures slowed cleanup efforts, and the National Guard was called in to assist with clearing the highway.

Along the coast, parts of Carteret County had picked up several inches of snow by Saturday evening, with reports of 5 to 7 inches coming from the National Weather Service office in Morehead City, which forecasts for the Outer Banks.

The NWS reported almost whiteout conditions in Cape Carteret Saturday evening. “Travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening especially if you become stranded,” the NWS said on X.

"When I tell people that I'm going to be on the Outer Banks, I certainly don't expect it to be for snow; I expect for it to be for a tropical system," Storm Chaser Aaron Rigsby said while reporting from the North Carolina coast on Saturday morning.

Numerous accidents have been reported on snowy South Carolina roads. "Road conditions across the Upstate are steadily worsening, and weather-related incidents are piling up fast," South Carolina Highway Patrol Community Relations Officer Mitchell Ridgeway said. "Stay home if at all possible."

Florida: Snowflakes fly, cold-stunned iguanas fall and record temperatures set

Flurries were reported at airports as far south as the Florida Panhandle on Saturday, including Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Marianna. Snowflakes were also reported on the Gulf Coast of Florida north of Tampa in Hernando and Citrus counties.

In Orlando, theme park guests braved the cold in the upper 20s on Sunday morning and captured icicles from fountains, including Universal Orlando's iconic globe.

Farmers at Southern Hill Farms in Clermont raced to protect their citrus and berry crops ahead of the freezing temperatures by applying water.

In South Florida, record-low temperatures contributed to cold-stunned iguanas in Miami and West Palm Beach. Miami recorded a 35-degree low, breaking a record set in 1909. West Palm Beach plummeted to 30 degrees on Sunday, the coldest temperature in roughly 36 years, breaking the old record-low temperature for Feb. 1.

The heaviest snow stayed east of Nashville, but it will remain dangerously cold, as temperatures will stay in the teens and 20s through Sunday. Icy roads and hazardous conditions are expected to persist, further delaying power restoration efforts.

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said three people died in the city due to the storm. “We know that too many Nashvillians will remain without power coming into another storm this weekend,” O’Connell said, encouraging those affected to seek alternative shelter before temperatures plunge again.

A pre-season NASCAR race scheduled for this weekend at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has been postponed to Monday due to the snowstorm and bitterly cold air.

“The number one concern is always the safety of our competitors and our fans getting to and from the track,” NASCAR senior director of marketing services Justin Swilling said. “And in consulting with the North Carolina Department of Transportation this morning and the City of Winston-Salem, we didn’t feel [that] a Sunday schedule was best suited anymore."

Report: Another Outer Banks home collapses during dangerous coastal conditions

Officials in the Outer Banks announced beach closures ahead of the storm, including portions of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, where 27 homes have collapsed since 2022 due to coastal erosion. Sixteen of those collapses occurred between September and October 2025 in the Buxton and Rodanthe communities.

This powerful storm renewed the risk for more homes to collapse into the ocean this weekend.

The Island Free Press reports another unoccupied home in Buxton collapsed into the surf, sending debris throughout the area.

Across the I-95 corridor and much of the Northeast, strong winds, coastal flooding and beach erosion were the main concerns with this system.

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, could get 1-3 inches of snow, but New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., will miss out on accumulating snow, as those areas continue to clean up after last week’s winter storm dumped the most snow many locations have received in about five years.

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