The National Weather Service in Raleigh this morning issued a briefing regarding a potential winter storm and a period of bitterly cold temperatures expected to impact central North Carolina from Friday night through early next week.

Key Forecast Details

Timeline: An Arctic cold front will arrive late Friday or Friday night. Wintry weather threats are most likely from early Saturday through Sunday night.
Precipitation: The combination of cold air and incoming moisture brings the threat of significant accumulations of ice and/or snow.

Frigid Temperatures: Maximum temperatures from Saturday through Monday will remain in the upper 20s to mid 30s.

Sunday morning lows will be in the teens, dropping further into the single digits to low teens by Monday morning.

Persistence: Due to the cold, any wintry precipitation that falls may not melt significantly through early next week.

Expected Impacts

The risk of significant wintry weather is increasing, with moderate impacts possible across all of central North Carolina. 

These impacts include:

Hazardous driving conditions.

Disruptions to daily life and infrastructure closures.
Likelihood of impact is currently rated between 60 percent and 80 percent for the majority of the region.
Residents are advised to monitor weather.gov/raleigh for the latest updates as exact details remain unclear.