‘Historic’ snow and ‘bomb cyclone’ to strike Midlands and SC on Saturday: NWS

A historically fierce snow storm and bitter cold will barrel into South Carolina beginning Saturday morning and continuing on into Sunday.

“It’s definitely going to be historic,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Gropp on Friday afternoon as he briefed reporters.

Along with record low temperatures, the NWS warned that central and north Midlands could expect up to 9 inches of snow, an increase from Friday morning when the high snowfall estimate was 8 inches. In a “worst case scenario,” Columbia could get 10 inches of snow, the NWS said.

Low temperatures across South Carolina could be from 10 to 15 degrees and wind chills down to 5 below zero, the NWS said.

South Carolinians should take the cold seriously.

So far, at least four people have died due to weather-related deaths. The elderly are especially susceptible to cold.

On Wednesday, Jan. 28, a 79-year-old male died in Oconee County as a result of a slip-and-fall accident involving ice leftover from the storm. The Jan. 26 death of a 59-year-old Charleston County man from hypothermia was ruled by the coroner as storm-related, according to the S.C. Department of Public Health.

Earlier this week, the Department of Public Health confirmed the deaths of an 83-year-old female in Lexington County and a 96-year-old female in Greenwood County, both from hypothermia.

Rain is expected to start early Saturday morning and transition to snow as temperatures drop, Gropp said, Some precipitation could begin Friday night, but the most substantial change will come Saturday evening and night, he said.

The weekend snow is expected to have a high snow-to-liquid ratio, so the snow will be light and powdery, not heavy and laden with water, Gropp said. The lack of wet, heavy snow should help reduce the number of power outages from snow bringing down trees and wires.

But the light powdery snow may gather in drifts, Gropp said. “I don’t think we’ve seen an event like this in a long time.”

The western Midlands could start to see some accumulation from 5-7 a.m. Saturday and the Columbia area from 9-11 a.m., said Gropp.

By mid-morning Saturday, the northern and western Midlands should see up to one inch of accumulation, he said.

From midnight early Sunday morning , the snow will slacken from west to east, Gropp said.

On Sunday evening, the winds will diminish, but the temperatures will still be extremely cold, he said.

A “bomb cyclone,” which is what South Carolina will feel the effects of, “just means a really strong low pressure system, and the impacts of that are the winds and the snowfall,” Gropp said.

“The last time parts of our area have seen this much snow accumulation especially over pretty much the whole width of South Carolina was back in 2014 and 2010. Some of the areas, such as down through Orangeburg, Barnwell and Bamberg, haven’t seen a 6-inch snow in 50 years,” Gropp said.

The wide area affected and the consistency of the snow is what makes the upcoming snowfall historic, he said.

“There will be a quick inch of snow in the morning, and then as temperatures fall into the 20s and teen, the snow will accumulate more efficiently,” he said.

By Tuesday, the cold temperatures should ease.

“Warm-up starts big time on Tuesday,” Gropp said.

In any case, we are not alone.

The snow that will lash South Carolina is part of a larger winter storm system that after striking the Carolinas will move up the East Coast, The Washington Post reported.

“A powerful nor’easter will deliver a dangerous combination of heavy snow, frigid temperatures, strong winds and coastal flooding from the Southeast to New England this weekend,” The Post said.

The Weather Channel, which gives unofficial names to major winter storms, has called this one Gianna.

This story was originally published January 30, 2026 at 5:32 PM.