November 2022 Central NC Climate Summary

By Phillip Badgett and James Danco

November was warmer and mostly wetter than normal.

November 2022 brought several large rain events which included the remnants of

Hurricane Nicole that tracked across far western NC. While 4 inches of rain fell over portions of

days from Charlotte northeast through the Triangle Area, Henderson, and Roanoke Rapids.

Raleigh had a daily record rainfall of 1.63 inches on the 25

to the southeast, with areas around Fayetteville, Clinton, and Goldsboro only getting a quarter to

half an inch. This is significant because the heavy rain knocked back the lingering dry antecedent

conditions over much of central NC, but the lower totals in the southeast part of the state kept the

D0 and D1 drought status going there. The NC Climate Office’s ECONet station in Clinton only

measured 1.89 inches for the month, which made this fall its 5

and Raleigh both got around 5 inches, which was 1.5-2 inches wetter than normal. Greensboro tied

for its 16

th

-wettest November with records going back to 1903, and Raleigh had its 18

th

-wettest

November going back to 1887. However, Fayetteville got less than 2 inches for the month, which

was over an inch drier than normal. According to preliminary data from NCEI, the whole state of

NC had an average rainfall of 4.12 inches. This made it the 29

Table 1: Monthly Precipitation Statistics

Some of the cooperative station reports from around central NC in November 2022

included: Lexington 3.11 inches, Winston-Salem 4.66 inches, Mount Airy 4.41 inches, Danbury

5.33 inches, Yanceyville 4.14 inches, Eden 4.27 inches, Henderson 5.22 inches, Carthage 4.44

inches, Cary 5.21 inches, Raleigh (NCSU) 5.03 inches, Louisburg 4.44 inches, Apex 5.02 inches,

Chapel Hill 6.22 inches, Jackson Springs 4.22 inches, Clayton 4.61 inches, Laurinburg 3.29 inches,

Rocky Mount 3.42 inches, Tarboro 3.05 inches, and Clinton 3.44 inches.

The cumulative precipitation at the three climate sites for the month of November is shown

for the month are depicted in Figure 3. Much of the Piedmont from the Triangle north and west

received at least 4 inches, with totals of 5-6+ inches across much of Chatham County and parts of

Randolph, Moore, Alamance, and Orange counties. These totals were wetter than normal by as

much as 2-3+ inches. However, the far south and east only received 1.5-3 inches, with the lowest

totals around Sampson County. This was as much as 1-2 inches drier than normal.

(Abnormally Dry) conditions from the beginning to the end of the month. However, the drought

conditions did not improve in the southern Piedmont and Coastal Plain. In fact, D1 (Moderate

Drought) conditions in the southern Coastal Plain actually expanded due to the continued dryness

there.

Fig. 4: U.S. Drought Monitor for NC on November 1 (top) and

November 29 (bottom)

near normal across central NC. The notable exception was in the southeast, particularly the lower

Cape Fear River basin where it dropped well below normal.

th

warmest November since 2003. Fayetteville tied with 2015 for its 8

record, with data kept since 1910. The preliminary monthly temperatures across the state of NC

averaged 53.6°F according to NCEI, which ranked November 2022 as the 13

in the past 128 years.

Table 2: Monthly Temperature Statistics

can be found in Figure 6. There were several periods of warm days that ended up boosting the

November averages. A southwest flow around the persistent high pressure located offshore sent

temperatures soaring the first week of the month. Both Raleigh and Fayetteville tied their daily

record high temperatures of 83°F and 85°F on November 6. Then all three climate sites had their

warmest temperatures for the month on the 7

84°F, and Fayetteville hit 86°F. These all shattered the previous record highs for the day by 4°F at

Greensboro and Raleigh and by 5°F at Fayetteville. In addition, according to the NC State Climate

Office, the usual cool spot of Roxboro even hit 84°F on November 7, which was the warmest

November day there since 1974. More record high and high minimum temperatures were set on

th

th

the 7

th

, including just 40s in the western Piedmont. Raleigh fell to 31°F on November 14 for their

first recorded freeze of the fall season. Low temperatures dipped into the lower-to-mid-20s on the

21

st

which were the coldest readings of the month at the three climate sites. Every day from the

13

th

to the 22

was cooler than normal at all three climate sites, before temperatures rose back

above normal again to close out the month. By month’s end, the number of days that dipped at or

below 32°F was 7 at both Raleigh and Greensboro, while Fayetteville had 4 such days.

Figure 7 shows that two-thirds of days in the month of November were warmer than normal

Greensboro: 0

Raleigh: 1

in 1975.