Snow possible in Midlands, but residents face greater winter weather threat, officials say
Chances are increasing that winter weather will affect the Columbia area this week, but snow is not the greatest threat to residents, according to the National Weather Service.
A wintry mix is likely, according to the forecast.
It’s possible that snow, sleet and most significantly freezing rain will be included in the precipitation expected to fall on the Midlands overnight Friday, National Weather Service Meteorologist Chris Rohrbach told The State on Tuesday.
The area north of Interstate 20 is the part of the Midlands most likely to experience the wintry mix, according to Rohrbach.
“Freezing rain is always a concern here in this part of the country,” Rohrbach said. “It’s the most concerning because out of those types of frozen precipitation it has the most impact.”
Downed power lines and outages as well as challenging driving conditions are among the threats posed by freezing rain. Rohrbach said Midlands residents should begin to prepare for the possibility of power outages.
There is a 100% chance of precipitation, according to weather.com.
The precipitation will likely begin as rain showers before 11 p.m. Friday, according to the forecast. As temperatures drop, the rain could turn into the frozen elements, including snow, and continue through Saturday morning, Rohrbach said.
The precipitation is expected to wane by 1 p.m. Saturday, the forecast shows.
It’s too early in the current forecast cycle to say how much — if any — snow will accumulate. But should there be snowfall, its remnants likely won’t be around for long.
If it snows, the precipitation is predicted to transition back into rain, which could wipe out any signs of accumulation, according to Rohrbach.
“It’s hard to say what any accumulation would look like,” Rohrbach said. “Rain is most likely.”
It could be the first time since January 2022 that there is snow on the ground in the Columbia area, according to Rohrbach. Between 1 and 3 inches of snow was recorded across the Midlands during that winter storm.
That storm was the first time any measurable amount had fallen on Columbia since 2017, and prior to that Columbia hadn’t had more than an inch of snow since 2014, the National Weather Service said.
Once the showers end Saturday, there’s no further chance of snow, sleet or freezing rain in the near future, according to the forecast. The rest of the upcoming forecast time frame is expected to be dry and cold, Rohrbach said.
Temperatures leading up to Friday’s storm and through the beginning of next week are predicted to reach highs in the 40s with lows in the 20s, the forecast shows. That’s 10 to 15 degrees below the normal temperatures (high of 57 and low of 35) for this time of year in South Carolina, according to Rohrbach.
“In this area of the country it’s very rare to get any frozen precipitation of any type,” Rohrbach said.
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This story was originally published January 7, 2025 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Snow possible in Midlands, but residents face greater winter weather threat, officials say."
