Ocracoke spared heavy snow but remains in cold grip

February 1, 2026

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The Ocracoke Lighthouse and Double Keepers Quarters on Sunday, Feb. 1. Photo: C. Leinbach/Ocracoke Observer

Editor’s note: This story was updated Feb. 2 with snow accumulation totals and Hyde County services information.

Unlike other areas of the state, Ocracoke Island had to dig out of only a few inches of snow on Sunday (Feb. 1), but below-freezing temperatures kept the island in winter mode.

Village streets were mostly snow covered in the morning and island NCDOT worker Shanon Eiben spent the day scraping off the snow.

Shanon Eiben spends Sunday scraping Ocracoke roads. Photo: C. Leinbach/Ocracoke Observer

Following a night of gusting winds Saturday, the island lost power late Sunday morning. Tideland Electric Membership Cooperative crews quickly jumped onto fixing the outage, which was fully restored island-wide by 3:30 p.m. Tideland officials did not give a cause for the outage but it occurred on the island.

Hyde County issued the following snowfall information on Feb. 1:

Mainland Hyde: Townships including Swan Quarter, Engelhard, and Fairfield are reporting widespread accumulations of 12+ inches, with localized drifts much higher due to intense wind.
Ocracoke Island: Reliable reports show totals in the 4–6 inch range, accompanied by significant soundside and oceanside flooding that has covered portions of NC Highway 12.
County Offices: All Hyde County Government offices will be CLOSED on Monday, February 2, to allow for continued recovery and road-clearing efforts.
Board of Commissioners: The regular Hyde County Board of Commissioners meeting, originally scheduled for Monday, has been rescheduled to 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5.
Solid Waste: Solid Waste sites remain closed until conditions allow for safe operation.

The National Weather Service forecasts cold weather to continue into Tuesday.

Ocracoke School will be closed on Monday and the Ocracoke Health Center and its pharmacy will be closed Monday and Tuesday .

High winds blew the snow off the beach. Photo: P. Vankevich/Ocracoke Observer

Several weather warnings also remain in effect until Feb. 2, including a Winter Storm Warning, Coastal Flood Warning, High Wind Warning, High Surf Warning, and Extreme Cold Warning.

NC Highway 12 remains closed between Rodanthe and Oregon Inlet due to hazardous conditions and on Ocracoke from the pony pens north, and all ferry operations to and from Ocracoke Island remain suspended.

The all-time record low of 13°F occurred on Feb. 20, 2015. On Jan. 24, 2003, nine inches of snow fell on the island and remained on the ground for five days.