When will it snow in Charlotte? What forecasters predict, and how much city usually gets
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Winter weather in Charlotte
The latest weather news and how to prepare.
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Winter has come to Charlotte, with the first full week of 2022 kicking off with reports of flurries and concerns about ice on the roads as storm systems moved across the country.
But forecasters say lovers of snow and chill in the air may be largely disappointed this season, and that’s on track with the last few years.
Here’s this year’s forecast as well as how it compares to years past.
Charlotte 2022 winter weather forecast
A relatively mild winter is likely for the Charlotte area, the National Weather Service says.
Temperatures are forecast to be “above average” throughout the season in and around Charlotte, NWS meteorologist Doug Outlaw said, and precipitation levels — such as snowfall — are expected to be “below average.”
If you’re a fan of winter and believe in the Old Farmer’s Almanac, things are slightly more optimistic. The 2021-22 forecast calls for a “cold, dry” winter across North Carolina.
How much snow does Charlotte get in a year?
A “normal” amount of annual snowfall in Charlotte is 4.3 inches, according to the NWS. That figure is based on snowfall records dating back to 1878.
Recent winters have been below average, though, NWS data shows. The winters of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 both saw less than an inch of snow fall in Charlotte. The highest recent total came in 2013-2014, when Charlotte got 9.3 inches of snow.
And in December 2018, the city got 2.9 inches.
What’s the coldest month in Charlotte?
The coldest month in Charlotte, on average, is January, according to NWS records. The average January temperature in Charlotte, based on records dating back to 1871, is 40.1 degrees.
The coldest January on record had an average temperature of 30.1 degrees in 1977, a record cold that still stands.
When were Charlotte’s earliest and latest snowfalls?
Charlotte’s earliest snowfall came on Halloween in 1887, NWS records show.
The latest came more than a month into spring in 1928, on April 28 of that year.
What was Charlotte’s snowiest month?
Charlotte’s snowiest month was, the NWS says, March 1960. The city got 19.3 inches of snow that month.
Charlotte’s heaviest snowfalls
The most snow Charlotte has ever gotten in a single day was 14 inches way back in February 1902, according to NWS records. From Feb. 14 to Feb. 17 of that year, Charlotte got 17.4 inches of snow, the city’s “greatest snowstorm total.”
More recently, Charlotte saw its second-highest snowfall in a single day in January 1988, 12.1 inches, and its third-highest in February 2004, 11.6 inches.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 1:43 PM.
