Close Call with an Icestorm Friday...

This is a rapidly unfolding and changing situation with Cleveland County directly on the line. The latest models continue to show our area remaining perilously close to damaging ice accumulations but the further west of Shelby you get, the more ice there will be. It will come down to temperatures and dewpoints tonight at start time. The precip should arrive around 7 pm to midnight for our area, and could very well start as snow. The snow shouldn't last too long here, as warm advection increases overnight, however I wouldn't rule out a quick inch or 2 even for Shelby. For areas further west toward Forest City and north toward Marion to Hickory, the snow should hold on a little longer.
The big deal is what happens Friday. If temps drop to 31 tonight after the start of the event, then most likely the Shelby area will remain in the subfreezing category throughout this storm. However, if we only get to 32 or above, then we could possibly dodge this bullet.  Its a tough call to make yet. I'll have a better idea this afternoon.

For western NC that experiences a little colder air at the surface, this is shaping up to be a major to even severe ice storm, the kind that brings trees down and power outages. For now, my best call is the map I've attached.  The pink is Winter Storm Warnings. Blue are Winter Storm Watches. Notice Cleveland County on the cusp. Its a razor thin margin, and could swing to anything from nuisance cold rain at 32 or 33, to a major crippling icestorm with temps staying around 30 for the event.

I'm expecting the worst ice conditions to extend for areas just east of the Blue Ridge mountains where the low level cold banks up against the chain. Areas like Lake Lure, Hendersonville, Old Fort, Marion, Morganton, Lenoir, Spruce Pine, Boone, Deep Gap, and North Wilkesboro

Check back this afternoon for an update.