CHARLOTTE — We are tracking our first major winter storm in years for the Carolinas this weekend, meteorologist Joe Puma said on Wednesday. Over the past 24 hours, we’ve seen a few changes to the forecast.
- This system is likely going to bring more of an ice threat rather than a snow threat.
- The timing of this system is now starting later around early afternoon Saturday.
Once the sleet begins on Saturday afternoon, it will continue heavy at times on Saturday night and the morning on Sunday across areas, including north Charlotte to Monroe and Waxhaw.
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As of Wednesday afternoon, the trend is that as this system pulls away, we’ll see cold air rush in changing the precipitation from sleet to freezing rain which will bring down power lines. This is going to be an area wide ice event from Hickory to Chester.
This is, unfortunately, not a snowman-making type of winter storm. Even folks in areas like Boone, Banner Elk or Blowing Rock will have to deal with freezing rain mixing in with snowfall.
We are going to be under the sleet/ice threat for the entire event closer to Interstate 85 in areas including Concord, Kannapolis to Charlotte and Gastonia.
It is still too early for accumulations, but early indications are looking significant. With accumulating sleet, traveling on highways such as Interstate 40 near Morganton will become extremely difficult.
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Roads will even become icy and slushy down in areas in South Carolina like Rock Hill. If you don’t have to travel, please stay off the roads Saturday night and especially Sunday, Puma said. Travel will become extremely difficult and dangerous at times.
If you’re catching a flight in West Charlotte over at CLT, be prepared for significant delays on Saturday and Sunday. This system is not just impacting us, but also several major airline hubs such as Chicago, DFW, Houston, Atlanta, and New York City.
This is going to cause ripple effects across the air network this weekend.
VIDEO: Wednesday forecast
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