CHARLOTTE — The last time Charlotte saw measurable snow, at least one-tenth of an inch, was in 2022. Now, there is a winter storm watch for the area.
Snow, along with ice and the power grid, are concerns for Duke Energy.
While they’re preparing to respond, they want to make sure residents will be able to as well.
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“Duke Energy always encourages our customers to have a plan. You know, just have a plan in case you were to lose power because you know Mother Nature, we don’t ever know what that’s going to bring us,” said Duke Energy Spokesperson Logan Stewart. “Just having some supplies on hand, bottled water, or things like that.”
Duke Energy also encourages people who use a generator to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and not use them in a closed space, like a garage.
The best advice the company can give is to be prepared for the worst.
Make sure you have supplies on hand like bottled water and nonperishable foods in case power goes out. The hope is that it doesn’t come to that.
Right now, Duke said it’s working with an in-house meteorologist to try and find out exactly what kind of weather they’ll be dealing with on Friday.
They said rain would cause the least threat to the grid, followed by snow, with the worst being accumulating ice.
“Ice is the big challenge when it comes to the power lines,” Stewart said. “If you think about ice, when it sits on a tree branch, it only takes about ¼ inch to bring down a tree branch or tree and power lines with it. If it’s sitting on a power line, it’s about ½ inch of that. Whereas if you’re talking about heavy, wet snow, it’s like 6 inches.”
Duke said if the worst does happen, they’re prepared to call in help from crews in other parts of the state and country who won’t be facing the same threat.
Residents prepare
“I’m from Raleigh, so I’m really used to how southerners react to snow,” said Charlotte resident Rebecca Rice. “I was more worried once it got to Wednesday-Thursday there would be no food in the stores, so I figured let’s get it now. I also know we don’t know how to drive in the snow.”
Brett Bucci is originally from New England and moved to Charlotte three years ago which was when the last time charlotte got snow.
“It was the greatest thing, pretty for 24 hours, melted right away, so you got all the feels,” Bucci said. “But with this one, seeing a lot of ice in the forecast definitely makes us nervous.”
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