From Duke Energy
Good afternoon! Below is the current weather information from our meteorologists.
A cold front approaches from the west Thursday night and crosses the region on Friday bringing light rainfall to the area. High temperatures will range from the middle 40s northwest to upper 50s southeast.
Confidence is increasing that a winter storm system will affect the area this weekend, but details remain highly uncertain. Cold high pressure will spread from the Great Lakes to the Northeast on Friday and then build down the eastern seaboard into the Carolinas for the weekend. Meanwhile, an active storm track sets up from the Gulf Coast to the southeastern US coastline. Models are in good agreement that the cold air will be in place ahead of the storm system, unlike recent events which lacked the cold air needed for wintry precipitation. However, the storm track is still highly uncertain, making a forecast of the transition zone from snow to sleet/ice extremely difficult this far out.
Last night’s European model shows primarily a sleet and freezing rain event for the Carolinas with snowfall limited to locations near the NC/VA border. In this model run, precipitation falls predominantly as sleet on Saturday afternoon and evening, then transitions to freezing rain south-to-north Saturday night with freezing rain continuing through much of Sunday. The European model suggests the potential for widespread ice accumulations around 0.50” (with locally higher amounts possible) from Upstate SC to the NC Triangle area. Lower ice accumulations are found near and southeast of I-95.
Last night’s American model brings snow transitioning to sleet across much of NC, except for SC and southeastern NC where sleet transitions to freezing rain. In this scenario, 6”+ snowfall amounts could occur along and northwest of a line from Charlotte to Raleigh, though there would be a significant period of sleet beginning mid/late morning. The American model suggests the potential for ice accumulations 0.25-0.35” across SC and locations along and east of I-95.
It cannot be stressed enough that the details of this storm system remain very uncertain and there will likely be changes to precipitation amounts and type with every model run.
Then, in the wake of this storm system, an arctic air mass builds across the region next week. Tuesday morning will be the coldest next week with readings in the upper single digits and lower teens.
Please remember, the National Weather Service is your official provider of weather information.
Winter storms, particularly ice storms, can be especially tricky to forecast. In a snow or ice storm, the difference between an area with little impact and an area with significant outages can be the difference in a degree or two or a distance of just a few miles. And unlike tropical and summer storms, in which outages typically peak as the storm passes, outages resulting from ice and snow can often increase even after the storm has passed, as trees, tree limbs and power lines succumb to the weight of heavy, frozen precipitation.
Our team is actively watching the weather and preparing to respond to whatever Mother Nature brings our way. Please reach out to me with any questions.
Duke Energy Actively Watching The Weather
