The coldest week in North Carolina, station by station
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at North Carolina reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
CharlotteCharlotte Douglas Airport, USW00013881
Jan 12 to 18
32°F
8°FJan 5, 2018
Nov 4
−5°FJan 21, 1985records since 1939
RaleighRaleigh Durham International Airport, USW00013722
Jan 12 to 18
32°F
4°FJan 7, 2018
Nov 12
−9°FJan 21, 1985records since 1944
GreensboroPiedmont Triad International Airport, USW00013723
Jan 15 to 21
30°F
3°FFeb 2, 2026
Nov 10
−8°FJan 21, 1985records since 1928
AshevilleAsheville, USW00013872
Jan 13 to 19
28°F
−2°FDec 24, 2022
Nov 2
−17°FJan 21, 1985records since 1876
WilmingtonWilmington International Airport, USW00013748
Jan 15 to 21
36°F
11°FJan 6, 2018
Nov 22
0°FDec 25, 1989records since 1948
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Charlotte against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 5 North Carolina reference stations.
At Charlotte it is usually Jan 12 to 18, with a normal low of 32°F. At the other reference stations: Raleigh Jan 12 to 18 (32°F), Greensboro Jan 15 to 21 (30°F), Asheville Jan 13 to 19 (28°F) and Wilmington Jan 15 to 21 (36°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Charlotte reaches 32°F around Jan 6. The first actual freeze came around Nov 4 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Charlotte was 8°F on Jan 5, 2018, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 16°F. Elsewhere: Raleigh 4°F on Jan 7, 2018, Greensboro 3°F on Feb 2, 2026 and Asheville −2°F on Dec 24, 2022. The record at the Charlotte station is −5°F, on Jan 21, 1985, in daily records since 1939.
At Charlotte a typical recent winter brings 48 nights at 32°F or colder and 4 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Charlotte Douglas Airport (USW00013881), Raleigh Durham International Airport (USW00013722), Piedmont Triad International Airport (USW00013723), Asheville (USW00013872) and Wilmington International Airport (USW00013748). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
