Weather Extra: Brrrr! 🥶
The big chill arrives: Forecast, tips, outlook for snow, schools and power
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The deep freeze is here: Lows for Charlotte in the teens and highs barely breaking freezing, through Thursday
◼️ Snow unlikely for Charlotte
◼️ Duke Energy says it foresees no repeat of blackouts
◼️ Tips you can take to prepare
by Steve Lyttle
The temperature dropped below freezing at midnight in Charlotte, and forecasters say we will spend much of the next 3 1/2 days in sub-freezing weather. Afternoon highs are predicted to climb a degree or two above freezing, but essentially, we’re in a deep freeze until Thursday afternoon. And it will be next weekend before we even approach “normal.”
So there are a couple of issues to deal with in the forecast. Let’s get to them:
◼️ The bitter cold: The National Weather Service has issued a Cold Weather Advisory for Mecklenburg and nearby counties, and an Extreme Cold Warning is posted for the mountains. What does that mean? It means you’ll need to bundle up when going outside. For those of you who moved here from up North, it means you’re revisiting winter the way you used to know it.
Afternoon highs will be around freezing, with morning lows in the low to mid teens, through Wednesday. Even Thursday will be quite cold. We sometimes get a day or two of cold weather here in the Charlotte region, but three or four days like this is unusual. Conditions in the mountains will be life-threatening, and it really makes you feel for the people still recovering from Hurricane Helene. For example, the forecast highs and lows for Boone the next two days are 20 and 4.
◼️ Snow unlikely for Charlotte: Is there any snow coming? In a word, no — not for us. Unless the predicted path of a developing Gulf storm changes, it looks as if we’ll have the cold weather but not the precipitation. We might get a few snow flurries Tuesday evening, as a storm system passes to our south. But the short-term computer models are coming into agreement that any meaningful snowfall will be limited to the areas east of I-95.
Snow in the rest of the South: Winter storm warnings are in effect for places like Austin, Houston and Mobile, with winter storm watches for Savannah and Charleston. A couple inches of snow are expected tonight and early Tuesday in New Orleans. That's something we see every 50 years (or more).
The National Weather Service on Monday was calling for Charlotte to receive no snow but for areas to the south and east to receive some. (Image from National Weather Service)
◼️ The energy grid: We all know what happened on Christmas Eve 2022, when Duke Energy was forced to implement rolling blackouts to save the grid from going down. Keep your fingers crossed on this, but Duke officials say we can be reasonably hopeful of avoiding something similar this time.
In a follow-up report to that incident, Duke Energy said the blackouts were the result of a mix of problems, including some energy plants not operating at full capacity because repairs were underway. Duke Energy’s Jeff Brooks told several media outlets in the past week that power plant repairs were conducted before winter arrived, and that the company expects its grid to hold up this time. However, the cold weather places stress on equipment, Brooks said, so some localized outages are possible.
◼️ Outlook for school cancellations: The last time we had a cold weather outbreak while school was in session was in early January 2018. Temperatures dropped to 8 degrees on Jan. 5, 2018, and there were concerns about children waiting outdoors for buses.
On that occasion, a number of nearby school systems opened on two-hour delays. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools did not have delayed openings. At the time, CMS officials said that students and parents could track buses on the system's app — thereby knowing when it’s time to go out into the cold and wait for the bus. That decision, as is almost always the case, got mixed reactions.
Tips for the next few days
You might consider doing the following to prepare for the next few days:
Fill up your car's gas tank, to avoid ice forming in the fuel supply.
Cover your spigots and do whatever possible to protect exposed pipes from freezing.
Consider running your water at a trickle, to prevent lines from freezing.
Do what you can to avoid cold air from getting through cracks in doorways and window sills.
Turn off power-drawing sources that you don't need operating in your homes.
Take care of your pets. Don’t leave them outdoors for long.
Be safe when operating portable heaters indoors.
Bundle up ... and keep moving.
Day-by-day forecast
Now, for the Charlotte forecast:
TODAY: Sunny and quite cold. High of 33.
TONIGHT: Clear and very cold, with a low of 14.
TUESDAY: The day will start with sun, but we'll have increasing clouds. It will be very cold again, with a high of 33. A few snow flurries are possible by late afternoon, especially southeast of Charlotte.
TUESDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy and quite cold again, with a low of 17. A few snow flurries are possible before midnight.
WEDNESDAY: Sunny and quite cold. High of 33.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Clear and very cold. Low of 14.
THURSDAY: A mix of sun and clouds and a bit less harsh. High of 38.
FRIDAY: Sunny and a bit milder, with a high near 45.
SATURDAY: Sunny. High of 49.
SUNDAY: Sunny and "normal" again, with a high of 52.
We live in the Carolinas. It will be warm again soon. Be smart — and safe.
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Steve Lyttle is a longtime Charlotte-area weather writer with a passion for meteorology and delivering smart, insightful updates that aim to inform and educate. Follow his “Weather With Steve” Facebook page for daily updates on Charlotte weather.
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Related Ledger articles:
“Inside Duke Energy’s Christmas Eve blackouts” (Jan. 4, 2023)
“After blackouts, utilities are urged to prepare better for winter” (Aug. 2, 2023)
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By all means, don't go outside without your coat on.