Charlotte is preparing for snow with another round of winter weather
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- Mecklenburg and state declare emergencies as NWS forecasts 4–7 inches of snow Saturday.
- Officials urge residents to stay home, gather supplies and report service issues.
- Crews will pretreat roads and shift to 24-hour work.
Charlotte is preparing for its second weekend in a row of winter weather, and emergency management officials are repeating their same cautions to residents: Stay home when possible.
The National Weather Service expects Charlotte will get anywhere from 4 to 7 inches of snow on Saturday with the possibility of even more. A Winter Storm Warning will be in effect from 4 p.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Sunday.
The area escaped relatively unscathed from last weekend’s ice storm, which forecasters expected to be one of the worst in years. City and county officials had warned residents to prepare for widespread, multi-day, power outages that never came to pass.
“We got really lucky last week,” said Robert Wike Graham, deputy director of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management and division chief at Charlotte Fire. “Not every storm is the same.”
Emergency responders’ primary concern this time isn’t the precipitation , Graham said, but the pairing with cold temperatures that will extend into early next week.
A state of emergency will be in effect in Mecklenburg County on Friday at 5 p.m. Gov. Josh Stein also declared a statewide state of emergency.
How to prepare for the Charlotte snow
Officials encouraged residents to take the same precautions as with last week’s storm.
Gather essential supplies before the snow starts, including flashlights, batteries, fully-charged cell phones, nonperishable food, water and medication.
Call 311 to report frozen pipes, fallen trees or questions about city and county services. Call 911 for emergencies.
Avoid using charcoal grill or camping stoves indoors, and keep generators outside and at least 20 feet away from structures, Graham said.
“Carbon monoxide, you can’t see it, taste it, smell it,” Graham said. “It is a killer.”
Charlotte utilities are prepared for the cold weather to come, said Shawn Coffman, deputy director of Charlotte Water. But residents can still take extra precautionary steps.
Coffman recommends insulating pipes near external walls, keeping kitchen and bathroom faucets dripping and opening cabinets to allow heat around pipes. Residents should also locate their emergency water cutoff valve in case of a problem.
The Charlotte Department of Transportation anticipates impacts from the storm will last into next week, said Stephen Bolt, street superintendent with the department. Crews are pretreating roads and will transition into a 24-hour work schedule this evening until streets are “substantially cleared” after the storm.
Staying home during the storm and in the days that follow will allow essential personnel to clear the streets and respond to emergency calls more quickly and safely, Graham said. It also cuts down on the number of crashes.
“A lot of people stayed off the road (last week), and I was very proud of that,” Graham said. “But there are people who get out there and get on the roads.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2026 at 4:11 PM.
