‘Enjoy it while you can:’ It’s about to get chillier in Charlotte. Here’s the latest.
Charlotte may finally feel like fall this weekend.
A massive cold front that extends from Maine to Florida is expected to settle in the Charlotte area on Saturday, ending the unusual warmth of the past two weeks, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Martin told The Charlotte Observer on Thursday.
“Enjoy it while you can,” Martin said of the warm temps.
Sunday’s high is expected to plummet to 69 degrees — 17 degrees lower than Thursday’s high of 86, according to the NWS forecast on Thursday afternoon.
The normal average high in Charlotte on Oct. 14 is 74 degrees, Martin said.
Before temperatures swung drastically upward, Charlotte also hit a high of only 69 on Oct. 8, a cloudy and rainy day, Martin said.
Friday should be another hot, sun-shiny day with a predicted high of 85 degrees, NWS forecasters said.
Goodbye, hot
Saturday’s high across the Charlotte area is expected to dip to 78 degrees under increasing clouds but only a slight — 20% — chance of rain, according to the NWS.
The normal average high for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 16-17, is 73 degrees, Martin said.
Skies should remain sunny through at least Wednesday, with forecast highs of 72 on Monday, 75 on Tuesday and 76 on Wednesday, according to the NWS.
No more hot spells like the one we’re experiencing this week are expected the rest of the season, Martin said.
NC fall foliage forecast
Leaves in Charlotte are expected to remain green until at least Oct. 25, when a few are expected to begin turning fall colors, according to the 2021 Fall Foliage Prediction Map released annually by SmokyMountains.com.
The North Carolina mountains offer some of the best fall foliage in the country.
Two weeks of warm weather delayed peak fall colors in the mountains by about a week, Beverly Collins, a Western Carolina University professor and fall foliage forecaster, told The (Asheville) Citizen Times this week.
“I’m looking for us to start having more color next week,” she said.
This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 3:53 PM.