Cold, but no snow this weekend

Just wanted to post something quickly, to update the weekend situation.

A few of the computer models earlier this week were hinting at a possible Saturday snowfall in the North Carolina Piedmont, but that has been cleared up.  There will be snow, but only in the mountains (and possibly some flurries in the foothills).

The cold air definitely is coming, though.

A strong cold front will cross the area Friday night, triggering an outbreak of arctic chill that will last about 48 hours.

A couple of weak low pressure systems will cross the Southeast over the weekend, but none of them will be strong enough to cause problems in the Charlotte region. For a snowfall to take place, "phasing" (a merger of storm systems in the northern and southern jet streams) would have been needed.  The computer models are pretty definitive that it will not happen in our region.

The strongest of those low pressure systems will cross to our north late Saturday and early Sunday, and that probably will bring a couple inches of snow in the higher mountain elevations. A few snow showers could spill into the foothills and even the Piedmont along the I-40 corridor, but don't look for anything to accumulate.

The cold air will be noticeable, though.  High temperatures each day probably won't climb above the low 40s.

After that, it looks like a milder trend into next week.

The next storm system figures to develop around the middle of next week, and it could be fairly potent. But as of now, it appears as if temperatures will be in the upper 40s -- too warm for anything frozen.