Brace for one of the coldest nights of winter on Thursday, NWS forecasters say
The Charlotte region faces a harsh night on Thursday, including dangerous wind chills, according to the National Weather Service.
“One of the coldest nights of the Winter will happen Thursday night behind a cold front with frigid temperatures and wind chill values with widespread teens and single digits across the western Carolinas,” forecasters reported late Monday.
The low Thursday night for Charlotte will be 19 degrees and the wind chill will be 13, the NWS says. It will be slightly colder in York County, with a low of 18 degrees in Rock Hill and a wind chill of 12.
Wind chills in mountain counties will range from 3 degrees in Asheville to minus 4 degrees in the northwestern corner of the state.
“The wind chill temperature is how cold people and animals feel when outside,” the NWS says. “Wind chill is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by wind and cold. As the wind increases, it draws heat from the body, driving down skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature. Therefore, the wind makes it feel much colder.”
The cold is linked to an arctic front and will linger in the region through the weekend.
“Temps will be held down 10-15 degrees below normal Thursday and Thursday night, meaning temps will not get out of the ... teens east of the mountains early Friday morning,” the NWS says.
The cold front will bring snow to western North Carolina, with some peaks along the NC-Tennessee state line expecting up to a foot of snow, forecasters say.
This story was originally published January 13, 2026 at 5:28 AM.