Lessons from North Carolina's extreme whiplash weather experiences in 2024: 'It's here and now'
NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) -- In North Carolina, Helene has so far been the weather headline of the year. It is still going to take months and years for western North Carolina to rebuild.
State Climatologist Dr. Kathie Dello says it's also an important reminder these kinds of severe weather events can impact not just the coast, but across the state.
As Helene devastated North Carolina, the sheer strength of the storm was shocking to Dr. Dello not just as a scientist, but as someone who loves our state.
"These are places that I know and love I have people that I'm very close to up there that the landscape is forever changed. And when the Blue Ridge Parkway closed, that's when it all hit me that this was something completely shocking, that I had not seen anything like this in my life," she says.
From Helene out west to homes collapsing into the ocean, in the Outer Banks, "it's been a year of weather whiplash here in North Carolina," Dello says.
We're seeing places that flood that never used to flood.Dr. Kathie Dello, NC Climatologist
That whiplash went from record heat in June, devastating corn crops, followed by a wet July to September, then back to a dry October.
Dello says it's a lesson that we need to be ready for anything, regardless of geography.
"We're seeing erosion on our coast. We're seeing places that flood that never used to flood. And we're also seeing sunny day flooding, which means there doesn't even need to be a hurricane. And some roads are just experiencing tidal flooding," she says.
She says creating stronger buildings moving forward needs to be considered across the state.
"We know that we see flooding outside of the 100-year floodplain we can build up so we can elevate structures, especially critical infrastructure that we need to keep in certain locations that maybe it floods on the first floor or there's a certain amount of baseline area that can take on water," Dello says.
But if 2024 was a lesson, we need to be ready for 2025 and beyond.
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"These events that are happening, we have other examples that we can point to all around the world, the worst things that people have ever seen. We just have to get ready for that. This is happening. It's here and now," Dello says.
This is happening. It's here and now.Dr. Kathie Dello, NC Climatologist
And we are not quite done with 2024 just yet. As we head into winter, one thing on a lot of people's minds is snow. After no measurable snowfall in the Triangle the past few seasons and with a La Nina pattern it looks like that will hold this year with a warmer and drier pattern, we have a below-average chance of snow in central North Carolina this winter.
