North Carolina Forecast: Snow flurries Friday, but not a white Christmas for the Triangle
Published Date: 12/20/2022
Source: WRAL
This Christmas could be the coldest Christmas in decades, but a white Christmas is looking unlikely. Highs on Tuesday will be in the upper 40s to near 50 degrees, and skies will be overcast much of the day. Tonight, lows will range from the mid 20s along the Virginia border to the lower 30s around Fayetteville. Showers will be possible in our southern counties Tuesday night, and a few flurries will be possible, but no accumulation. Chilly days will stay in our forecast leading up to Christmas, with highs in the upper 40s on Wednesday and the low 50s for Thursday. There will be a chance for rain Thursday night into Friday, when arctic air arrives in central North Carolina. Bitter cold sets in Friday afternoon WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said Friday will feature the coldest air we've seen in a long time, with a wind chill in the teens. Temperatures will begin in the 50s in the morning but get colder throughout the day on Friday, with temperatures dropping into the 20s in the afternoon. The wind chill will make Friday afternoon feel even colder. It will be so cold that it will be a good day to stay indoors. By Friday, we could see some snow in the N.C. mountains. Flurries will be possible in the Triangle, but accumulation is unlikely. "Expect rain on and off Thursday into Friday," WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth said. "As the cold air dives in behind an arctic cold front on Friday, we could briefly see a few flurries in the morning or early afternoon. We're not expecting any accumulation here in central North Carolina." Any flurries spotted in the Triangle will switch over very quickly to rain, meteorologists said. Lows will drop into the low 20s over the weekend, and highs will be in the low 30s -- near freezing -- so it could be the coldest Christmas morning in decades, according to Gardner. We expect highs to only reach the low 30s on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Even though it will be cold enough for snow, it doesn't look like it will happen this year. "It's still not looking like we'll have a white Christmas," Gardner said. The coldest Christmases in recent history were 19 degrees in 1983 and 32 degrees in 1989. Although we probably won't see snow this Christmas, it will definitely be cold enough. You can help kids get warm during the cold weather by contributing to WRAL's Coats for the Children. Models show flurries Friday, but not a White Christmas Due to the extreme cold, the odds may be slightly higher than the historical probability of snow in Raleigh on Christmas (just 2%), but trends aren’t favorable for snow lovers. It will certainly be cold enough for snow, but those cold temperatures have to line up with rain chances -- which is why we could see flurries on Friday but probably not over Christmas. The European model shows rain arriving midday Thursday and continuing through the evening commute. Some light rain will be possible after the Friday morning commute with a few flakes mixed in around noon Friday. No accumulation is expected. The American model indicates rain is likely the first half of the day Thursday, tapering off in the evening. This model calls for light rain Friday morning with a few snowflakes in our northwestern counties around noon. No accumulation is expected. Saturday and Sunday -- Christmas Eve and Christmas Day -- will just be very, very cold. There will be a lot of sunshine. Subscribe to WRAL: https://youtube.com/c/wral5 Follow WRAL: Facebook: https://facebook.com/WRALTV Twitter: https://twitter.com/WRAL IG: https://instagram.com/wral About WRAL-TV: WRAL is your Raleigh, North Carolina news source. Check out our videos for the latest news in Raleigh, local sports, Raleigh weather, and more at https://WRAL.com #localnews #northcarolina