'Dangerously Cold Conditions' To Greet 2018: Weather Service

CHARLOTTE, NC — The new year will arrive Sunday night with a blast of chilly arctic weather, says the National Weather Service, with low temperatures expected to last well into next week. In a forecast released Friday, the weather service warned of "a prolonged period of dangerously cold conditions" in the Charlotte metro area and beyond, including northeastern Georgia and the western Carolinas.

The chances are low for rain or snow on Sunday and beyond, but people going out on New Year's Eve are advised to bundle up. Temperatures on Sunday evening will plunge into the teens to lower 20s, with high temperatures generally in the 20s to 30s each day through next Thursday, the weather service said.

The coldest morning is expected on Tuesday, with temperatures reaching the single digits in the mountains around Charlotte and the teens elsewhere. Wind chills below zero are possible across the mountains on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday nights, the weather service said.

With cold weather on the way, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed an emergency order Thursday to ease restrictions on the distribution of heating fuels such as propane, WSOC-TV Channel 9 reported. Cooper's executive order includes measures to prevent price gouging.

Image: Patch