Must-see moments: Historic nor'easter slams Carolina coast and shatters snow records

KILL DEVIL HILLS, NC – A historical nor'easter "bombed out" disconnected the North Carolina seashore overnight Sunday, delivering grounds snow to parts of the Southeast and adjacent hurricane-force wind gusts.

FOX Weather Storm Specialist Mike Seidel, who reported unrecorded amid blizzard-like conditions from the beach astatine Kill Devil Hills, said this tempest rivaled the astir aggravated storms that helium has experienced successful his much than 3 decennary vocation covering extreme weather.

NOR'EASTER: WHAT CAUSES THESE POWERFUL SYSTEMS?

FOX Weather Storm Specialist battered by weaponry cyclone nor'easter on North Carolina's Outer Banks connected Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. 

(FOX Weather / FOX Weather)

"This is beauteous steadfast retired here. This is astir arsenic beardown a tempest that I've been in, adjacent counting the snowstorms up connected the Cape Cod country successful Plymouth [Massachusetts], backmost erstwhile Boston had their 110+ inches successful 2015," Seidel said precocious Saturday.

NOR'EASTER 'BOMBS' OUT AFTER SLAMMING CAROLINAS, VIRGINIA WITH RECORD SNOW, BLIZZARD CONDITIONS

Seidel noted that visibility dropped to astir a fractional mile earlier midnight Sunday, owed to the blowing snowfall and sand.

"I tin consciousness each spot of the soil hitting my backmost and the snowfall blowing by me," Seidel said.

All told, the tempest dropped much than a ft of snowfall crossed parts of Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia.

The apical recorded upwind gust was 70 mph successful Nags Head, North Carolina, arsenic the Outer Banks were blasted by gusts implicit 65 mph.

HISTORIC WINTER STORM KILLS OVER 80, IMPACTS MILLIONS ACROSS MORE THAN 40 STATES

More than 10,000 flights were disrupted implicit the play arsenic the strategy blanketed the Southeast coast.

Snow coats the soil successful Myrtle Beach, SC from a almighty nor'easter that slammed the Carolinas.

(Brandy Campbell / FOX Weather)

North Carolina and Georgia declared States of Emergency up of the tempest — conscionable a week aft a massive cross-country wintertime tempest delivered uncommon snowfall and crystal to the region.

The upwind and unsmooth surf churned up by the tempest caused 4 much unoccupied houses to illness into the Atlantic Ocean successful Buxton, North Carolina, by Monday, marking the 31st specified illness since 2020, according to Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

WATCH: UNOCCUPIED HOME ON NORTH CAROLINA'S OUTER BANKS COLLAPSES INTO ATLANTIC AS 3 MORE FALL AFTER NOR'EASTER

A collapsed formation location breaks isolated successful the water aft collapsing connected the formation of Buxton, North Carolina, connected Feb. 1, 2026. 

(On_a_adventure Hunter Hicksw / FOX Weather)

The NPS said definite homes successful the villages of Buxton and Rodanthe are present successful an intertidal portion – an country that is exposed during debased tide, but partially covered by h2o during precocious tide. Many of these homes were antecedently connected wholly adust dunes.

Firefighters successful Charlotte had to rescue a antheral who drove into a retention pond during the nor'easter.

VIDEO: FIREFIGHTERS RESCUE MAN FROM SUBMERGED CAR WHILE INTENSE NOR'EASTER SLAMS NORTH CAROLINA

The tempest produced uncommon snowfall connected beaches on the Southeast seashore and adjacent arsenic acold northbound arsenic Virginia Beach, Virginia, wherever FOX News Multimedia Reporter Chelsea Torres saw beardown upwind and snowfall Saturday night.

Nearby Norfolk International Airport tallied 11 inches of snow.

"It astir looks similar different world, this is conscionable truthful insane to me," Torres remarked arsenic she panned implicit to a windswept beachfront arsenic the nor'easter intensified.

The uncommon snowfall proved to beryllium a dainty for East Carolina University students successful Greenvile, North Carolina.

GREENVILLE MAYOR TALKS ABOUT CITY'S EFFORTS TO CLEAN UP FROM HISTORIC SNOW

After the assemblage announced that Monday classes were canceled, undergraduates got immoderate other clip to bask play festivities, including students dressed up for an yearly "hot canine barroom crawl," who spoke with FOX Weather Meteorologist Haley Meier.

Meanwhile, successful Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, FOX Weather Correspondent Brandy Campbell heard from disappointed tourists Sunday who were expecting temperatures successful the 60s and 70s alternatively of snow-covered beaches.

Most of the Grand Strand saw betwixt 1 and 3 inches of snow, portion the upwind chill brought feel-like temperatures into the teens.

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

Myrtle Beach averages a fractional inch of snowfall annually.

According to the FOX Forecast Center, the nor'easter dropped 33 mb successful 24 hours Saturday nighttime into Sunday, arsenic arctic aerial from a displaced polar vortex implicit the eastbound U.S. collided with lukewarm aerial from the Gulf.

This graphic shows the unit driblet of this weekend's nor'easter.

This phenomenon, known arsenic bombogenesis, leads to almighty wind gusts that rapidly intensify and aggravated precipitation astir the halfway of the storm.

WHAT IS A BOMB CYCLONE?

Snow falling successful Lebanon, Virginia connected Friday, Jan. 30. 

(Billy Bowling/X / FOX Weather)

The nor'easter bombed retired arsenic acold aerial brought southbound by a heavy dip successful the jet stream interacted with the warmer aerial supra the mild Atlantic h2o of the Gulf Stream.

Faust, North Carolina, saw the highest snow accumulation with a jackpot of 22.5 inches, portion New Bern, North Carolina, shattered its metropolis grounds with 13 inches of snow.

NEXT ROUND OF SNOW BEGINS ACROSS WINTER-WEARY EAST, LATE-WEEK STORM COULD CAUSE TRAVEL TROUBLE

"They're going to find maine hard arsenic a carp successful a snowbank successful astir 5 years," Seidel said earlier signing disconnected Saturday evening.