Flakes expected to fly in the Midlands. Here’s when and how much snow’s forecast
Snow is in the current forecast for this weekend for the Midlands.
It won’t just be a dusting, National Weather Service Meteorologist Emily Carpenter told The State on Wednesday. A snowstorm moving through the Southeast could lead to 2 inches, or more, of snow accumulating in the Columbia area of South Carolina, according to Carpenter.
“I expect the forecast to change several times before the weekend, but it’s favorable for snow,” Carpenter said. “We will see flakes flying this weekend.”
Those flakes could begin descending on the Midlands very late Friday, and continue into Saturday, according to Carpenter. It’s possible a storm could start as a mix of rain and snow, then shift to just snow.
While the forecast isn’t fully formed for all the weekend, Carpenter said it’s likely snow would be falling until about 8 p.m. Saturday. As the forecast develops, and potentially changes as Carpenter warned, it’s possible that the snowfall could extend into Sunday.
Any snow would be part of a weather system that’s expected to cause widespread precipitation across the Carolinas. Rain is more likely along the South Carolina coast, but further north will be snow in North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service.
The Midlands and the Upstate regions of South Carolina are more likely to experience the white stuff than the Pee Dee Region, Carpenter said.
The area to the north and east of the I-26 corridor in the Columbia area is where the most snow is currently expected, according to Carpenter.
While exact amounts of snowfall remain uncertain, Carpenter said that there should be nothing like the freezing rain and sleet that left a layer of ice across the Midlands last weekend.
“Thankfully, there will be no ice,” Carpenter said.
Even without the ice, any significant snow that’s combined with the freezing cold temperatures in the forecast will make driving conditions hazardous, according to Carpenter.
“It’s very concerning with the cold,” Carpenter said. “Overnight temperatures could be in the mid-teens. This is some of the coldest temperatures we’ve seen all winter.”
While there’s a deep freeze overnight, the daytime temperatures on Saturday and Sunday only will approach highs of 35 degrees, the forecast shows.
That type of cold can be extremely dangerous.
Conditions will warm, slightly, at the beginning of next week with daytime highs in the 40s and overnight lows in the 20s, according to the forecast.
No advisories, watches or warnings have been issued, but that could change as the storm continues to develop closer to the weekend.
Carpenter said Midlands residents should keep watching the forecast as it continues to develop.
“It’s very fluid. ... What’s forecast today could change,” Carpenter said. “We could get nothing, or we could get more. But people should begin making preparations for another winter system.”
If it snows this weekend, it would actually be the first significant snowfall of the year in Columbia. The forecast for winter weather Jan. 18, as well as another potential snowstorm Jan. 25, didn’t come to fruition. There was little precipitation in the former, while the latter saw precipitation that was mostly freezing rain and some sleet.
While some flurries were spotted in parts of the Midlands in each of the past two weekends, should any snow accumulate the ground, it would be the first measurable snowfall of 2026. There were two instances in 2025 when snow was recorded in Columbia — Jan. 10 and Jan. 21-22.
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