Heavy snow is forecasted, but it's not certain where it will land
Plus: Charlotte stores appear to be wiped out of sleds
Good evening! It’s Thursday, January 29, 2026. You’re reading a special weather edition of The Charlotte Ledger, with solid, authoritative information to help you plan ahead. Not a Ledger member? Sign up here.
Whether Charlotte will get a little or a lot of snow this weekend is still up in the air
by Steve Lyttle
The thinking hasn’t changed much over the past 12 hours about Saturday’s winter storm system. It’s going to bring a lot of snow to some places, and not that much to other places. And the big-snow places and the little-snow places might not be that far apart.
Oh, and one more thing — at this point, it’s impossible to predict where the heavy snow will fall.
Charlotte snow lovers can take comfort in the thinking by many meteorologists that the heaviest snow is likely to fall in our part of the state. But computer models continue to show some areas (called “dry slots”) where the snow might not fall for a few hours. So it’s possible that Salisbury could get 8 to 10 inches, while 2 to 3 inches fall in Charlotte.
But here are a couple of things you can count on — or, as they say, take to the bank:
Even 2 to 3 inches of snow will make a mess of Charlotte-area roadways. That’s because temperatures will be well below freezing, and the snow will stick in a hurry.
Some of the coldest air in several years will follow this storm. It will drop to 10 degrees Saturday night after the storm. Then it gets colder. How about 7 or 8 degrees on Sunday night?
This whole situation screams out “more snow days” for area students. I assume Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ decision to declare Tuesday and Wednesday as virtual learning days means those days won’t cause changes in the school calendar later this year. Because at this rate, some families’ spring break plans could be in trouble.
One more sobering thing — there are a number of meteorologists who think this very cold pattern in the eastern United States will last well into February. So we might have a couple more weeks of this wintry stuff to deal with.
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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From the National Weather Service:
A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for the area that includes Charlotte from 4 p.m. tomorrow (Friday) to 7 a.m. Sunday.
Total snow accumulations could range between 4 to 7 inches, depending on the area. Wind gusts may be as high as 55 mph, which could result in areas of blowing snow and cause poor visibility.
Heavy snow will make many roads impassable and may produce isolated power outages because of the weight of snow on tree limbs and power lines. Hazardous conditions could impact tomorrow evening's commute, and strong winds could cause damage to trees and power lines.
Snow is expected to stick to roads and other surfaces because temperatures will be in the 20s. Travel conditions could start deteriorating as early as tomorrow evening.
—Ashley Fahey
Shortage of sleds ahead of snowy Charlotte weekend
Ahead of the potential for snow this weekend, stores across Charlotte were mostly wiped out of sleds, The Charlotte Ledger found — likely thanks to last week’s winter weather. One Ledger reader reached out to us, saying she wasn’t able to find a sled at many of the local big-box stores (nor were sleds available online that would deliver on time via methods like Amazon Prime). Blackhawk Hardware at Park Road Shopping Center had some sleds on Wednesday afternoon but sold out before closing. The Ledger found a few sleds (and snow shovels) at the Hipps Hardware store off Brookshire Boulevard on Thursday morning (pictured above), but calls to a few local stores found inventory lacking at most. If you can’t manage to get an actual sled before the weekend, consider using storage bin lids, laundry baskets, cafeteria trays, air mattresses or pool floats and tubes as alternatives — just be careful if you decide to take to the hills with them. —Ashley Fahey
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