The recent Arctic blast is making for a cold Christmas across North Carolina.

However, it's not a white Christmas except for a few spots around the highest elevations of our state's mountains.

It was a much different story 33 years ago, though.

What You Need To Know

  • A record snowstorm produced up to 20" of snow in southeastern North Carolina Dec. 22-24, 1989

  • The heaviest snow fell near the coast, with no snow reported from near Raleigh to the west

  • Wilmington dropped to its all-time coldest temperature after the winter storm

If you ask anyone that has lived in southeastern North Carolina for quite a while, they will certainly remember the white Christmas of 1989. 

A rare late-December snowstorm that year produced up to 20 inches of snow just north of Wilmington from Dec. 22 through Dec. 24. It was the all-time record snowfall for much of southeastern North Carolina. 

The heaviest snow was confined near the coast. Raleigh saw only a trace of snow with that storm. Charlotte and Greensboro did not see any.

Wilmington hit all-time record low temperatures just after the storm. The temperature dropped to 0 degrees on Christmas morning.

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