A year after rare snow covered Hilton Head, SC awaits another winter storm
It’s 65 degrees and sunny on Hilton Head Island. But on this day last year, the island’s beaches were covered in several inches of snow, a winter wonderland Beaufort County had not seen in years. For some, it was the first snow they’d ever seen.
The morning was quiet. Cars, sidewalks, roads and roofs were white, glowing bright as the sun started to rise. A scene to look back on as the state braces now for another winter storm, this one named Fern.
Roadways near Coligny Beach were uncharacteristically empty, with small footprints trailing across them. A few folks, layered in the biggest coats they could find in long-forgotten winter boxes, stood in a small line outside the Circle K on Pope Avenue. It was the only place open for miles, and they had hot coffee to warm cold hands.
Mid-morning brought Beaufort County residents outside to see the chilly and snowy miracle for themselves.
Locals from Daufuskie Island to Beaufort celebrated the rare snow day in the early hours of the morning, some seizing the rare opportunity to sled down golf course hills, others huddling together near the ocean’s edge snapping photos while trying to stay warm.
Kids with rosy cheeks and rain boots made snowmen and snow angels, blissfully unaware of the cold.
It was the kind of day that brought smiles to faces, the kind of day that paused the hustle and bustle, the kind of day for as many cups of hot cocoa as the heart desires, the kind of day that only comes once every few years here.
