2026 Foothills thread

[WNC_Fort]

There’s barely any precip in the foothills through Sunday on the NAM

[strongwxnc]

Boys at foothills weather first cal:


First Call Map (1/21/26, 9 pm)

A major winter storm is going to impact the region starting Saturday and lingering into most of Sunday.

Here is our "first call" map based on all the guidance at our disposal along with the forecasting experience our weather team has accumulated over the years.

1. This is NOT going to be all snow. Instead we are looking at a variety of precipitation types across the region. Our forecast is under the impression that cold air aloft will be supportive enough of some snow but mainly sleet through a longer period of time, especially if you are north of Interstate 40.

2. Our southern tier of counties has the highest chance of seeing an onset of snow/sleet but a quicker transition to freezing rain. The amounts of ice could be quite severe close to the NC-SC border.

3. We will update this map again, likely tomorrow evening at this time. We hope that you are preparing for a winter storm that could significantly impact travel and availability of utilities (cell, phone, cable, etc...) for a period of time going into next week.

Winter weather coverage is sponsored by Wendy B's Embroidery & Screen Printing


.

[WiseWeather]

Ill take all the sleet it can throw at me… but i dont want freezing rain


.

[WNC_Fort]

Well. We’re missing this one to the north so can’t wait to miss the one next week to our south and east

[BooneWX]

2 hours ago, WNC_Fort said:

Well. We’re missing this one to the north so can’t wait to miss the one next week to our south and east

I’m telling yall. Historic Charleston storm coming. It’s the only reasonable way. 

[strongwxnc]

Just now, BooneWX said:

I’m telling yall. Historic Charleston storm coming. It’s the only reasonable way. 

This is the way..

[BooneWX]

Gonna put my flag in the sand on something though: moisture is always ahead of schedule. My thoughts are that we get a front end thump earlier on Saturday that gives us 1-2”. 

[strongwxnc]

Gonna put my flag in the sand on something though: moisture is always ahead of schedule. My thoughts are that we get a front end thump earlier on Saturday that gives us 1-2”. 

He’ll anything’s possible now.


.

[wncsnow]

I think we get less than an inch of precip here. 

[Ernest T Bass]

We'll have to see what happens with the potential for us to have much less precip, but my forecast from the NWS looks like something from the late 70's or 1980 something.

Snow, sleet, freezing rain complete mix is old school for a lot of us.  We'll see if it plays out that way, and as always hoping for more snow.

[BooneWX]

I’d have to look back but if I remember right, miller b transfers usually blank areas from Greensboro east, not so much the western half of the state. We’ll be in near constant upslope flow, which is why I think our onset could be late Sat morning. 

[strongwxnc]

27 minutes ago, BooneWX said:

I’d have to look back but if I remember right, miller b transfers usually blank areas from Greensboro east, not so much the western half of the state. We’ll be in near constant upslope flow, which is why I think our onset could be late Sat morning. 

And even that time may not be known as of now. 

Early should = more SN. 

[BooneWX]

.

[BooneWX]

.

[strongwxnc]

10 minutes ago, BooneWX said:

.

Thats a bump IMO for the lee..

 

[wncsnow]

.6 of freezing rain would be awful. I still think 2-3 inches of sleet after a brief period of snow then .25-.5 ZR here. I've seen us stay sleet longer than most nestled up against the escarpment.  

[BooneWX]

Damage in the drizzle. That’ll be my thing to watch during this storm. We don’t want slack rates.

[wncsnow]

[BooneWX]

Wake up boys, the GFS says front end thump. 

[wncsnow]

Shes trending south

[wncsnow]

If the 3KM NAM continues to show mostly sleet tomorrow I think we could dodge a bullet. Its really good with CAD precip types 

[WiseWeather]

Wake up boys, the GFS says front end thump. 

We may be in for more snow vs sleet…. If the moisture is anywhere as heavy as it seems it may erode that warm layer faster than we think.


.

[BooneWX]

29 minutes ago, WiseWeather said:

We may be in for more snow vs sleet…. If the moisture is anywhere as heavy as it seems it may erode that warm layer faster than we think.


.

I may have said this earlier but I remember 2022 having some similarities to a lesser extreme from a qpf standpoint. I recall that puppy looking like all sleet and some frz rain and then it kept trending further south with the transfer until go time. We landed with a transfer from roughly Chattanooga to Charleston and got a good half foot of sleet/snow. 

[WiseWeather]

If we keep seeing southern trends we may be back and in a good way.


.

[BooneWX]

Right image. They’re opening a door I’m walking in. Tell me not to.


.

[calculus1]

^ I’ll take what’s behind door number two, as well.

The Christmas storm like 15 years ago trended from nothing to amazing simply the night before.

[SnowDawg]

If that warm nose ends up at +10 degrees or more like some models have shown there ain't nothing stopping that. At that point it's all about that surface level wedge being deeper for sleet.