FOX Weather Storm Specialist Mike Seidel braved historic conditions on North Carolina’s Outer Banks as a powerful nor’easter ‘bombed out’ offshore. He spoke with FOX Weather Meteorologist Ari Sarsalari as part of FOX Weather’s live coverage Saturday. Wind gusts approached hurricane-force strength and some places in North Carolina topped 20 inches of snow.
KILL DEVIL HILLS, NC – A historic nor’easter “bombed out” off the North Carolina coast overnight Sunday, delivering record snow to parts of the Southeast and near hurricane-force wind gusts.
FOX Weather Storm Specialist Mike Seidel, who reported live amid blizzard-like conditions from the beach at Kill Devil Hills, said this storm rivaled the most intense storms that he has experienced in his more than three decade career covering extreme weather.
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FOX Weather Storm Specialist battered by bomb cyclone nor’easter along North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
(FOX Weather / FOX Weather)
“This is pretty healthy out here. This is about as strong a storm that I’ve been in, even counting the snowstorms up on the Cape Cod area in Plymouth [Massachusetts]back when Boston had their 110+ inches in 2015,” Seidel said late Saturday.
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Seidel noted that visibility dropped to about a half mile before midnight Sunday, due to the blowing snow and sand.
“I can feel every bit of the sand hitting my back and the snow blowing by me,” Seidel said.
CHARLOTTE, USA – JANUARY 31: Snow covers Charlotte during winter storm, as bomb cyclone brings heavy snow in Charlotte NC, United States on January 31, 2026.
((Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images))
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 31: A student slips and falls on the historic Horseshoe as snow falls at the University of South Carolina on January 31, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina.
((Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images))
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 31: Students walk across the historic Horseshoe as snow falls at the University of South Carolina on January 31, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina. Forecasts show much of the Carolinas blanketed with snow and unseasonably cold temperatures behind the winter storm.
((Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images))
CHARLOTTE, USA – JANUARY 31: Winter storm Gianna hit brings heavy snow in Charlotte NC, United States on January 31, 2026. (Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)
((Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images))
All told, the storm dropped more than a foot of snow across parts of Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia.
The top recorded wind gust was 70 mph in Nags Head, North Carolina, as the Outer Banks were blasted by gusts over 65 mph.
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More than 10,000 flights were disrupted over the weekend as the system blanketed the Southeast coast.
Snow coats the sand in Myrtle Beach, SC from a powerful nor’easter that slammed the Carolinas.
(Brandy Campbell / FOX Weather)
North Carolina and Georgia declared States of Emergency ahead of the storm — just a week after a massive cross-country winter storm delivered rare snow and ice to the region.
The wind and rough surf churned up by the storm caused four more unoccupied houses to collapse into the Atlantic Ocean in Buxton, North Carolina, by Monday, marking the 31st such collapse 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 beach house breaks apart in the ocean after collapsing on the beach of Buxton, North Carolina, on Feb. 1, 2026.
(On_a_adventure Hunter Hicksw / FOX Weather)
The NPS said certain homes in the villages of Buxton and Rodanthe are now in an intertidal zone – an area that is exposed during low tide, but partially covered by water during high tide. Many of these homes were previously on completely dry dunes.
Firefighters in Charlotte had to rescue a man 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 storm produced rare snow on beaches along the Southeast coast and even as far north as Virginia Beach, Virginia, where FOX News Multimedia Reporter Chelsea Torres saw strong wind and snow Saturday night.
Nearby Norfolk International Airport tallied 11 inches of snow.
“It almost looks like another world, this is just so insane to me,” Torres remarked as she panned over to a windswept beachfront as the nor’easter intensified.
FOX News Multimedia Reporter Chelsea Torres is live from Virginia Beach as the impacts of a strong nor’easter arrive, packing a powerful punch of strong wind and heavy snow.
The rare snow proved to be a treat for East Carolina University students in Greenvile, North Carolina.
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After the university announced that Monday classes were canceled, undergraduates got some extra time to enjoy weekend festivities, including students dressed up for an annual “hot dog bar crawl,” who spoke with FOX Weather Meteorologist Haley Meier.
FOX Weather Meteorologist Haley Meier is live in Greenville, North Carolina as a powerful winter storm is slamming the Carolinas, triggering winter weather alerts from Georgia through Maryland. East Carolina University students had classes canceled Monday, and are taking this rare weekend snow day to indulge in their favorite winter weather activities.
Meanwhile, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, FOX Weather Correspondent Brandy Campbell heard from disappointed tourists Sunday who were expecting temperatures in the 60s and 70s instead of snow-covered beaches.
Most of the Grand Strand saw between 1 and 3 inches of snow, while the wind chill brought feel-like temperatures into the teens.
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Myrtle Beach averages a half inch of snow annually.
SNOWY BEACH: South Carolina is on high alert as Extreme Cold Warnings have been issued across the state. FOX Weather Correspondent Brandy Campbell is in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as snow gets heavier and starts accumulating.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, the nor’easter dropped 33 mb in 24 hours Saturday night into Sunday, as arctic air from a displaced polar vortex over the eastern U.S. collided with warm air from the Gulf.
This graphic shows the pressure drop of this weekend’s nor’easter.
This phenomenon, known as bombogenesis, leads to powerful wind gusts that quickly intensify and intense precipitation around the center of the storm.
WHAT IS A BOMB CYCLONE?
Snow falling in Lebanon, Virginia on Friday, Jan. 30.
(Billy Bowling/X / FOX Weather)
The nor’easter bombed out as cold air brought south by a deep dip in the jet stream interacted with the warmer air above the mild Atlantic water of the Gulf Stream.
Faust, North Carolina, saw the highest snow accumulation with a jackpot of 22.5 inches, while New Bern, North Carolina, shattered its city record with 13 inches of snow.
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“They’re going to find me hard as a carp in a snowbank in about five years,” Seidel said before signing off Saturday evening.
