The Lenoir plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.
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5.06 inches of rain fell in two days, the most for this week of the year since records began in 1871. The next wettest, 2.94 inches, fell in 1918.
Lenoir’s center stands about 1,180 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 1,080 ft to 1,680 ft, a difference of 600 ft: hilly country. The highest named summit within 15 miles is Rocky Knob, about 3,270 ft, 14 miles north-northwest.
Under the town center the state geologic map shows Migmatitic Granitic Gneiss (biotite-gneiss), from the Cambrian to Ordovician, 445 to 542 million years old.
The section below crosses 9 rock units mapped at the surface.
Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 12×. The colored band under the surface is the rock the state geologic map shows at the surface, not a picture of what lies beneath.
Biotite-gneiss, mica-schist, calc-silicate-rock. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 8 mi of the line.
Mica-schist. Age: Neoproterozoic to Cambrian, 487 to 1,000 million years old. About 6 mi of the line.
Biotite-gneiss. Age: Cambrian to Ordovician, 445 to 542 million years old. About 3 mi of the line.
Gneiss. Age: Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic, 950 to 1,250 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.
Metavolcanic, metasedimentary. Age: Neoproterozoic, 820 to 821 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.
Gneiss. Age: Neoproterozoic, 542 to 1,000 million years old. About 2 mi of the line.
From the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation (Horton and others, 2017), the states’ geologic maps joined at a common scale. 3 smaller units along the line are not listed.
Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR; rock from the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation.
A raindrop that lands in Lenoir reaches the Atlantic Ocean by way of Lower Creek, the Catawba, the Wateree, the Congaree, the Santee and the South Santee: about 400 river miles.
Lakes on the way: Lib Pines Lake and Lake Norman.
Traced down the USGS NHDPlus V2.1 river network from the Census center point of Lenoir; river miles along the main stem, rounded.
Lenoir has a humid subtropical climate. Summer afternoons average 88° in July; winter nights fall to about 27° in January. About 50 inches of rain fall in a normal year, with about 4 inches of snow.
On November 14 Lenoir normally reaches 61° and falls to 36°. The record high is 79°, in 2003; the record low 15°, in 1920. The most rain on this date, 1.50 in, fell in 1871.
Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1871 at Lenoir, here. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.
