Bomb cyclone to focus most of its furious snow on Carolinas
Alex Sosnowski
Fri, January 30, 2026 at 5:40 PM UTC
5 min read
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As the atmospheric pressure crashes along the Atlantic coast from Friday to Saturday, a bomb cyclone will be born, winds will dramatically increase and snow will fly. The main focus of the snow will extend from the Carolinas to southern Virginia, northern Georgia and just barely along the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts this weekend.
While the storm a week earlier somewhat spared the Carolinas and northern Georgia the worst wintry effects, the impending storm may make up for it in terms of snow, with the potential for some of the heaviest snow in decades in areas where handling a coating to an inch can bring serious problems.
Travel may be shut down as snow clogs portions of interstates 26, 40, 64, 75, 77, 81, 85 and 95 from Tennessee to the Atlantic coast in the Carolinas and southern Virginia.
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Accumulating snow will begin in middle Tennessee on Friday afternoon and continue into Saturday as the storm tiptoes across the state. Nashville, which was hard-hit by the previous ice and snowstorm, is projected to pick up 1-3 inches of snow. Bitterly cold conditions, with temperatures in the teens and 20s F through Sunday afternoon and not forecast to climb above freezing again until Monday afternoon, will keep many roads snow-packed and icy, making cleanup difficult.
The bulk of the snow in the Atlanta metro area will fall from Friday night to Saturday morning, with a coating to an inch of snow anticipated. However, snow accumulations will increase exponentially in northeastern Georgia to central and eastern North Carolina along the I-85 corridor. Heavy snow will fall on the southern Appalachians as well.
Flight cancellations are likely in Atlanta. At the very least, significant delays will result due to deicing operations. It is possible that so much snow may fall in Charlotte to shut down flight operations for a time. Many regional airports in the Carolinas may have to close due to the significant snowstorm.
In Charlotte, the most recent benchmark storm was 3.5 inches on Jan. 17, 2018, and this weekend's storm is forecast to reach or exceed that amount. Going farther back, a storm in late February 2004 was one of the biggest on record, with 13.2 inches falling. In late January 2003, a storm brought 8.5 inches.
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In Raleigh, a storm brought 7 inches on Dec. 9, 2018, and could be eclipsed by this weekend's storm. The biggest snowstorm on record occurred in late January 2000, when 20.3 inches of snow fell. In early January 2002, a storm brought 10.8 inches.
The worst of the storm in the Carolinas and southern Virginia will be from Saturday to Saturday night, when the snow may fall at an inch per hour or more at times. As the storm rapidly strengthens just off the Atlantic coast, winds will increase across the region, leading to rare blowing and drifting of the snow and the visibility dipping to one-quarter of a mile or less at times.
Given the limited amount of plows and chemicals available in the region and the furious pace of the storm, many roads will become snow-packed and may become blocked by stalled vehicles or accidents.
As crews focus their attention on major highways, some secondary roads and city streets may be blocked for days in the wake of the storm. Schools may be closed for an extended period.
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If there is a positive with this storm, as opposed to the storm last weekend. The dry, powdery nature of much of the snow with this storm will not cling to trees and power lines. However, near the coasts of North and South Carolina and Virginia, winds will be strong enough to cause sporadic power outages.
From eastern North Carolina to the southeastern corner of Virginia, an all-out blizzard may unfold, with winds gusting to or exceeding 35 mph and snow or blowing snow reducing visibility to one-quarter of a mile or less for at least three consecutive hours.
The winds will create frequent, large waves along unprotected coastal areas from North Carolina to Delmarva with moderate coastal flooding. The flooding will be worst at times of high tide.
What will the storm bring to the Northeast?
Dry Arctic air and high pressure to the north will block the storm's path in the Northeast, forcing accumulating snow to fall south of Washington, D.C., and southeast of Philadelphia and New York City.
As the high pressure area north of the storm weakens later in the weekend, some snow will graze Boston, but the storm has the potential to rage as a blizzard on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and parts of Nova Scotia and the island of Newfoundland in Atlantic Canada.
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The storm will get close enough to the I-95 corridor in the Northeast to create gusty, harsh winds in the Arctic air.
AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will dip to 15-25 degrees lower than the actual temperature near the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts, as well as wide open areas and in between the concrete canyons of New York City, Philadelphia and Boston from later Saturday to Sunday. RealFeel® Temperatures will dip into the single digits and below zero at times.
The raging storm offshore this weekend will kick up large swells that will reach the coastline as big breakers, causing beach erosion.
The wave action and astronomical effects of the full moon will lead to coastal flooding. Where the wind is more northerly instead of from the northeast, much of the New Jersey coast, the southern New England coast and New York City should be spared the worst impacts of coastal flooding.
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