Polar Plunging Into Weekend

This weekend is going to be miserably cold. A few light showers are exiting the WCCB Charlotte viewing area to the northeast this morning – and so is a cold front, setting up the Piedmont and Foothills with a sunny and breezy day. Highs will end up in the mid-to-upper 40s outside of the mountains this afternoon, although it may feel more like the 30s with northwesterly wind gusts approaching 30 mph. The sunshine around the Metro will make things more tolerable, but it’ll be a whole different story in the High Country, which will see its second major snowstorm in under a week. 3-6″ of snow are in the forecast for areas between 3000′ and 4500′, while communities above 4500′ may approach a foot of snow through Saturday afternoon. While only the mountains get in on the snow, we’re all receiving an Arctic blast to kick off the weekend. Wind chills will range from the single digits in the Piedmont and Foothills to -20° in the High Country as we wake up on Saturday.

Highs will struggle to clear the freezing mark in Charlotte Saturday afternoon as cold air continues to pour in from the northwest. Temperatures begin to recover as winds calm down and shift from a more southerly direction by the start of the final full week of January. Highs may even approach 70° around the Metro and southward by the end of the week. We’ll also need to watch for a series of rainmaking systems around this time, but dry conditions will prevail for at least the next five days.

Today: Sunny and blustery. Mountain snow. High: 47°. Wind: NW 10-20. Gusts: 25+

Tonight: Clear and cold. Wind chills approach single digits. Low: 19°. Wind: NW 5-15.

Saturday: Cold sunshine. Mountain snow. High: 34°. Wind: NW 5-15. Gusts: 25+

Saturday Night: Another frigid night. Low: 15°. Wind: NW 5-15,

Sunday: Sunshine continues. A bit warmer. High: 40°. Wind: N 5-10.