Finally! Charlotte heat wave on the way could ease heating bills, meteorologists say
A heat wave aimed at Charlotte could finally ease your astronomical heating bills.
Highs in the Queen City could rise to 80 degrees by Monday, according to the National Weather Service office in Greer, S.C.
That’s 20 degrees above the historic average high for any day in March, according to Weather Atlas.com and NWS meteorologists.
“We’re going to climb well above normal temperatures, especially given what we’ve been through the past two months” with snow, ice and subfreezing temps, said Harry Gerapetritis, a lead meteorologist with the NWS Greer office, in an interview with The Charlotte Observer.
On Wednesday, the NWS adjusted its forecast high for Monday down 2 degrees from the 82-degree mark it predicted a day earlier.
Wednesday’s high stood at 77 degrees at 4 p.m., according to the NWS Charlotte forecast page. The high is predicted to climb to 78 on Thursday, before dipping to 61 on Friday, NWS forecasters said. Highs are expected to jump to 71 Saturday and 78 Sunday, the forecast shows.
The high could fall to 71 on Tuesday, when the NWS calls for a 40% chance of showers in Charlotte. Wednesday’s high temp could drop to 62, according to the NWS.
No cold wave expected
But don’t expect highs to plummet back to anywhere near the more normal 60 degrees after that, Gerapetritis said, based on longer-term weather models.
Although temperatures could cool a bit next Wednesday into Thursday, he said, that will only be due to possible rain and clouds moving through but not settling in the region he said.
“If anything, the chance will increase for more warmer temperatures moving back in,” he said.
Still, Monday’s expected high should fall short of Charlotte’s record high for the day — 85 degrees in 1974, Gerapetritis said.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 6:00 AM.