This year marks the 67th annual lighting of the WRAL-TV tower in Raleigh, an annual tradition that has grown to include celebrations with towers at American Tobacco Campus in Durham and Rocky Mount Mills.


WRAL Tower Lighting: WRAL lights the towers in Raleigh, Durham and Rocky Mount

WRAL Tower Lighting

Michelle Mackonochie - familiar to WRAL viewers after five years as part of the morning news team - will anchor the 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. newscasts with Dan Haggerty, and the 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts with Gerald Owens. 

WRAL welcomes Michelle Mackonochie to evening newscasts beginning Jan. 5

Michelle Mackonochie

What it really means to be an organ and bone marrow donor

Stay up to date with WRAL’s Sledding news and reporting coverage

Sledding News and Reporting Coverage | WRAL

Sledding Coverage

A search for sleds in the Raleigh area yielded a few options.


Sleds are scarce in Raleigh ahead of winter weather: Find out where we tracked some down

Sleds outside Town and Country in Wake Forest

Saturday's snow day is a perfect one for sledding, and the first time in years we've had just-right conditions: Weekend snow, fluffy flakes, plenty of power. 

Here are the best places to sled in Raleigh, Durham, Cary

Winter Storm Arrives in the Northeast After Hitting Washington

Sky 5 captures families going sledding at Dix Park in Raleigh after Tuesday night's snowfall.

Sky 5: Families enjoy the snow with sledding at Dix Park

Sky 5: Families go sledding at Dix Park

Conditions were good for sledding at Dix Park in Raleigh. WRAL reporter Kelsey Coffey gives it a shot.

<p>BACK IN HERE IN A LITTLE BIT. BACK TO YOU. &gt;&gt; ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, AMY. AND WITH ALL OF THE SNOW, THERE IS PLENTY OF WINTER FUN TO BE HAD AS WELL. RIGHT? WRAL'S KELSEY COFFEE IS HITTING THE SLED HAILS AT DIX PARK. THE MOMENT WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. KELSEY, YOU HAVE TO REDEEM HERSELF ON LIVE TELEVISION. &gt;&gt; THE SHELL, I AM DETERMINED I WILL REDEEM MYSELF, OK, SO YOU CAN SEE ALL THESE FOLKS HERE AT DIX PARK HAVING A GREAT TIME, ENJOYING THE SNOW. THEY DID HAVE TO BRAVE A LITTLE BIT OF THE COLD IN ORDER TO GET OUT HERE. MAKE SURE THEY WERE CAREFUL ON THE ROADS, BUT I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND GIVE EVERYONE THE MOMENT THEY'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND GO DOWN THE HILL. BUT THIS TIME I DO HAVE HELP. SO THIS PROBABLY WILL BE MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN LAST THAT ARE YOU READY? ALL RIGHT. ONCE. AND IT WAS A SUCCESS. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU ABOUT THE COFFEE,</p>

WRAL's Kelsey Coffey gives sledding another shot at Dix Park in Raleigh

Kelsey Coffey gives sledding another try

A child has died following a sledding accident in Whitsett, according to the Guilford County Sheriff's Office.

Child dies after sledding into pond, Guilford County deputies say

Child dies after sledding accident in Guilford County  

It's a snow day in the Triangle, which of course means sledding! 

THIS LETTER IS A LOVING IT LOOKING FORWARD TO TAKING ADVANTAGE OF SOME OF THAT NEW POWDER. >> AND WHILE WE'VE BEEN STRESSING A MESSAGE OF SAFETY ON THE ROADS THIS MORNING, WE ALSO WANT TO EMBRACE THE JOY OF SNOW. WE FINALLY BROKE OUR SNOWLESS STREAK AND KIDS AND THOSE YOUNG AT HEART ARE CELEBRATING THE BUREAU'S. KELSEY COFFEY IS LIVE AT A PARK IN DURHAM WHERE PEOPLE ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THAT SNOW. >> IT'S A QUICKLY MELTING, THOUGH. KELSEY. YESTERDAY PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS FOR AS LONG AS THEY CAN. SO WE'RE IN DURHAM CENTRAL PARK RIGHT NOW. WE'RE FOLKS ARE ENJOYING SOME SLEDDING. WE'RE SEEING KIDS AND FAMILIES EMBRACING THIS JOY OF SNOW SINCE WE HAVE NOT SEEN THIS IN THE TRIANGLE AREA IN MORE THAN 1000 DAYS AND THEY GOT ME OUT HERE, TOO. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I LET MY PHOTOGRAPHER CHARLES BRADLEY CONVINCE ME TO DO THIS. BUT THIS IS MY FIRST TIME TRYING OUT A SLED. SO I WANTED YOU ALL TO SEE THIS LIVE. WE'RE GOING TO TRY IT. ALL RIGHT. I MAY BE OLD PUSH WILL SEE ONE, 2. IT'S NOT WORKING. WE'RE NOT GOING TO SO THAT'S ALL WE GOT, I GUESS. BUT THE SURE TO BE SAFE OUT THERE ON THE ROADS, IF YOU DO DECIDE TO ENJOY BEING OUT IN THE SNOW TODAY, CHELSEA COFFEE, WRAL, NEWS LIVE IN DURHAM. >> IT'S JUST A LITTLE PRO TIP THERE. KELSEY, FIND A HILL AND THEN IT WORKS BETTER. GRAVITY. GRAVITY IS GOING TO WHEN SHE SAID THIS IS THE FIRST TIME LIKE FIRST TIME TODAY, FIRST TIME EVER. YEAH. AND YOU SKIP CHILD. YEAH, RIGHT. OKAY. THERE'S A LOOK UP THE EYE. WE'RE LETTER

WRAL's Kelsey Coffey goes sledding in Durham Central Park

As the snow accumulates across the region, plenty of kids are pulling out their sleds, ready for the moment where there's just enough snow for the perfect run.

Sledding Safety: 9 tips to ensure your kids' sledding experience is all fun

Sky 5: Snow creates perfect sledding in Raleigh, Chapel Hill

Wintertime, snow in the mountains and people from all over love to go sledding on the highest sled run east of the Mississippi. Sledding Hill is at Beech Mountain and a snowy magnet for kids and families. 

THE OFFICERS GOT TO HAVE BALL ON CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S EVE NIGHT. YOU LIKE THAT ONE OF MY SLEEP TIME. WINTERTIME SNOW. LET'S GO SLEDDING AT TONIGHT. ARE TAR HEEL TRAVELER TAKES US TO THE HIGHEST SLED RUN IN THE EAST. WE FIND SCOTT MACEAN WEST IN AVERY COUNTY IN BEECH MOUNTAIN AT SLEDDING ILL. >> POUND SHE GO TO THE BALL. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE FLYING DOWN THE HILL. IT'S READING HERE. STEEP SLIDING, WHO HIT 2 RELAYS. I'M IN THE TOWN OF BEECH MOUNTAIN, GOOD FRIEND ED DADS TAKING ANOTHER RUN. >> HIS BACK. >> AND IS LITTLE ANGELS ARE 2. THEY COME FROM ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE WE GET A LOT FROM FLORIDA WHERE YOU FROM TAMPA, FLORIDA AND TENNESSEE. WE LOOKED FOR SLIDING ALL OVER NORTH CAROLINA ARE THE BEST PLACES RIGHT HERE OFF. SO IT'S A CRIME. IT'S A CRIME. THIS IS JUST A NATURAL HILL. A NATURALLY STEEP HILL. BEECH MOUNTAIN IS THE HIGHEST TOWN IN EASTERN AMERICA. THE ELEVATION HERE IS 5,065 FEET. >> AND SO WELCOME TO EASTERN AMERICA'S HIGHEST LEVERAGE. BEAUTIFUL. >> YOU REALLY CAN'T TELL WHO HAS MORE FUN, THE CHILDREN OR THE CARE. THE PARENTS ARE FLYING IN THE AIR. >> THAT'S 15 YEARS AGO. >> AND IT'S BEEN DOWNHILL EVER SINCE. VERY, VERY NICE BALANCE. YOU CAN SEE THEY'RE NOT GOING OUT OF CONTROL, BUT IT'S FUN TO GO OUT OF >> AND FAST AND BUMPY AND BEAUTIFUL. IT'S FREE AS FIND MY KIDS LOVE IT. HAVE YOUR KIDS HIDE YOUR PARENTS. IT'S A BEAUTIFUL HOW ARE YOU READY TO GO AGAIN? YEAH. >> WE'LL BE READY FOR THAT. HIGH. BACK UP THE HILL TO GO AGAIN. SLEDDING HILL IS NEXT TO THE VISITOR CENTER AT BEECH

Tar Heel Traveler: Sledding Hill

Saturday was a perfect day for sledding. WRAL's Joe Fisher got a chance to sled with the cool kids at Fred Fletcher Park. Raleigh got around 3 inches of snow and by Saturday afternoon, the sun was shinning and temperatures were not too frigid. 

so fisher joins our crew right now, team coverage for you this morning, all morning long, not just the roads were going to get a little bit of fun in there where the kids are having a great time fled fred fletcher parked there and carrie jo oh the kids are having a great time. They really are and we're having a great time to, you know, I tend to cover a lot of serious news, but I got the best assignment of the day out here at fred fletcher park. Take a look at the crowd out here. I mean we've been seeing dozens and dozens, perhaps hundreds or more people who have really been coming up all day, just neighborhood kids and people coming over for the snow. You take a look at the hill and people are coming down and I finally convinced somebody to uh you know, rent their sled to me, Jeff Renee these girls over here, you guys want to sled with me. Okay, we're live on the news, so we have to put on a performance. Are you ready? All right. So the hardest part I would say after you come down the hill, Jeff is trying to get back up the hill because take a look at the mud and hopefully lukas nelson behind the camera doesn't get us falling flat on our face as we try to get up the hill. What do you think it's kind of slippery. Right, whoa. There have been a lot of sled runs. When you see all that mud on the hill, thousands of runs, it gets so packed down and you know what's interesting. This is my kind of snow. I grew up right outside of philadelphia were used to getting, you know, a good a few good snowstorms a year. And you know the trick. You have to get a little bit of a running start. Okay, are you ready? We're gonna put down the microphone and we're gonna, hey, is everyone ready? We're live on the news. Who wants to get in, say hi to your mom? Hey mom, I hope you're having a good day, mom and nana. We're all out here having a good time. We're going to get a running start and hopefully we don't run into lukas nelson down there with the camera. Right? All right, Renee, you're ready, Jeff you ready ready? And we're gonna get a running start a Youtube video right there. That's definitely a pro move right there, joe. I got the running. So look at that microphone and we do it for you. Yeah, I appreciate it and everything. Good job. Perfect. I'll be out here all day. That is fantastic as well. You should be because that is great. And the kids enjoying us. What a snow day should be. Right. We don't get these and if I can just mention before we go, I don't know why it feels so different right now, but it's just so good to see people smiling. We are so happy out here. That's, that's what it's all about right now And we finally got a snow day we've deserved. It's been three years. More than three years. Yeah. Since we have this kind of measurable adrenaline rush, How fun is that? Yeah. Three.

WRAL's Joe Fisher goes sledding at Fletcher Park in Raleigh

With the snow bearing down on the Triangle. last-minute shoppers Friday went in search of sleds, shovels and salt.

ALL OF THIS IS >>> A LOT OF PEOPLE SCRAMBLE TO GET LAST MINUTE SNOW SUPPLIES TODAY. >> AMANDA LAMB HAD A LIVE REPORT AT NOON FROM A LOCAL HARDWARE STORE. SHE SAYS A FLOOD OF PEOPLE WHO SAW THE STORY RUSHED TO GET THEIR SLEDS. >> Reporter: THE FUNNY THING ABOUT SNOW SUPPLIES IS YOU DON'T USUALLY NEED THEM. WHEN YOU NEED THEM, YOU REALLY NEED THEM. WE FOUND PEOPLE PICKING UP THINGS LIKE SHOVELS AND SALT. PATRICK WENT FOR A POWER CORD FOR HIS DRYER. HE GOT A CALL FROM HIS WIFE TELLING HIM TO GO BACK. >> GOOD, YOU GOT A SLED? NO, I DIDN'T. SHE SAID GO BACK AND GET A SLED. >> Reporter: DOUGLAS BOUGHT SUPPLIES TO KEEP THE GENERATOR RUNNING BECAUSE HIS WIFE IS NERVOUS ABOUT A POWER OUTAGE. >> SHE'S NERVOUS. SHE THINKS WE GOING TO GET A BLIZZARD. >> WE HAVE THE ONES THAT HAVE A NICE HANDLE TO MAKE IT MORE COMFORTABLE. >> Reporter: THE HARDWARE STORE OWNER SAYS SHE TRIES TO KEEP SNOW SUPPLIES YEAR ROUND TO MAKE SURE CUSTOMERS CAN GET THEM WHEN THEY NEED THEM. >> THEY'RE LIKE WHY DO YOU HAVE ALL THESE SLEDS? IT DOESN'T REALLY SNOW. I AM LIKE IF IT SNOWS YOU CAN'T GET THEM. >> KNOCKED OUT AN ELECTRICAL PROJECT. IF WE GET SOME SNOW, THAT WILL BE GREAT. >> Reporter: WE FOUND NO SHORTAGE OF SNOW LOVERS. A LOT OF PEOPLE SAW US ON THE AIR AT NOON AND CAME TO GET A SLED. THEY WILL BE HAPPY WHEN THEY WAKE UP TOMORROW MORNING IF THEY HAVE ONE OF THESE ON HAND. >> HANDY-MAN MARKET HAS BEEN BUSY ALL WEEK. SOME PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CALLING

As snow starts to fly, so do snow supplies

Despite many changes as a result of the coronavirus pandemics, the world's most famous sled dog race got underway in Alaska Sunday. 

And that's something we've heard from mushers. As they said, the out and back, we can expect a faster race we can mention after war. So he's had a great mission and a great story, and, uh, he's got to get up. What looks like 26 was his best finish in 2000. And uh huh, the first man in 2000 and four, then came back out there. Best of luck during this year's race now been 45. Rick Castle with the trail. They've already gone down. Yeah, and you know what normally happens and I did around when we say that run between Roman and Nikolai, there is fallacious overflow on some of the river in the areas that they've got to travel through, so you never know what's out there. That's the beauty of this. I don't know how many more times Cindy will run, but any mushroom would tell you you don't want your last race to be a scratch. That just doesn't sit right, because you can always go Alaska. And it says here, after retiring from the identity three times, she's decided to run one more time. Wow, Here we go. And there's Victoria Hardwick on the trail. Our final musher from the shoot. She takes it on

World's most famous dog sled race underway in Alaska 

Alaska's Iditarod underway 

A mother is warning sledders to wear helmets after her 3-year-old fractured his skull while playing in the snow. 

go ahead. Like many Minnesota families after the pre Christmas snow, the worm lease and Hastings went sledding on their favorite hill. There, 3.5 year old boy, Gordon was excited to go down by himself until he took a little spill at the bottom on his second ride. He just kind of rolled off the sled on it on a very open area without trees. Gordon scraped his forehead so they took him home. But they didn't know about the goose egg on the back of his head. And not until later how serious it waas. He set up to ask me a question, and he was not making any sense. His speech was slurred, he was stuttering, and he was visibly upset that I couldn't understand him. So he was not aware of all that. He wasn't making sense. A CT scan at the hospital revealed a skull fracture. It was the size and shape of a half dollar on the back of his head, and Gordon was rushed by ambulance to Children's in Minneapolis. It was terrifying. That's the best way I can explain it. One of the scariest parts was how Gordon spill at the bottom of the hill didn't look anywhere near a serious as it really waas, and we learned that at three years old, their skull isas thick as 10 sheets of paper. So the importance of wearing a helmet in any kind of activity is just so great. The warm Lee's describe themselves as normally overprotective, making their kids wear helmets for lots of activities. And now they're encouraging other parents to consider wearing helmets for sledding, too, because it really would have been very preventable if he had been wearing a helmet. They're thankful to have Gordon back home recovering. Happy New Year, everybody Blue Reduce Care 11 News.

3-year-old fractured his skull while sledding, mother warns

The snow has faded from the rolling hills of Dorothea Dix Park. Grass and mud are more like it after hours of sunlight. But for hours Friday morning and into the afternoon, families hauled out their sleds and went dashing through the snow.

Snowy conditions allow children, even adults, to have some fun

WRAL reporter Bryan Mims took his turn sledding at Dix Hill on Friday morning. Watch as he goes airborne on a huge bump in the snow and narrowly avoids being crashed into by a sledding child! 

WATCH: WRAL's Bryan Mims goes airborne while sledding on live TV

Bryan Mims goes sledding at Dix Hill

Fayetteville hasn't gotten much snow this year, but Saturday, kids can sled on four hills full of fresh snow at Segra Stadium. 

Go sledding! Fayetteville park has mounds of snow for winter fun 

North Hills Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration

Lots of snow in Pittsboro NC and mother has a plane to Atlanta to catch! Where there's a will, there's a way!!

Never too old! 87-year-old sleds in Pittboro

My 87 year old Mother has to get to RDU Airport 

Amanda Lamb joins in the fun as snow lovers enjoy sledding in Raleigh's Dorothea Dix Park.

Amanda Lamb joins snow lovers for some sledding in Dix Park

WRAL is live as snow lovers enjoy sledding in Raleigh's Dix Park.

Snow lovers enjoy sledding in Dix Park

Live look at road conditions in Raleigh

Students from NC State tried to see how many sleds they could link together for a ride down Dix Hill.