April to October is a generally warm season (summer) with hardly any snowfall. Cities such as Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh experience snowfall from November until March, while Cape Hatteras receives snow from December until March. North Carolina receives snow during the winter months. Much of the snow that falls on the eastern part of the mountains comes from extratropical cyclones that originate in Georgia and move off the coast of North and South Carolina. The mountains help prevent snowstorms from reaching Piedmont, but when snowstorms do make it beyond the mountain, they are usually light and rarely reach the ground.
In the Piedmont-Triad region, which is located further west, the average snowfall is 9 inches, and the Charlotte area receives an average of 6.5 inches annually. The coastal region receives less than 2 inches of snow, while the city of Raleigh receives approximately 7.5 inches annually. However, the mountain region and the state capital receive significantly more snow that the coastal region. Snow is a common occurrence in North Carolina, with an annual average of 5 inches. It snows in North Carolina and the mountainous region in the west receives more snow than the coastline in the east. Most of North Carolina is characterized by a humid subtropical climate, except regions with higher elevations, which experience a subtropical highland climate. The mountains block low temperatures and storms from the Midwest from reaching the Piedmont region. For example, the climate in the eastern part of the state, along the Atlantic coast, differs from that experienced in the Appalachian Mountains, located in western North Carolina. Given the state's varied topography, the climate of North Carolina also varies.
It also has a range of altitudes, from sea level on the eastern coast to the rolling hills, Blue Ridges, and the Smoky Mountains in the western part of the state. North Carolina has a varied landscape that includes coastal plains, western mountains, and the Piedmont plateau region. The state is subdivided into 100 counties, and the city of Raleigh serves as capital. North Carolina ranks as the US's 9th most populous and 28th largest state in terms of area. It is bordered by several other states, including South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, and also borders the Atlantic Ocean. North Carolina is a US state located in the southwestern region of the country.