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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolinians braced last week for the arrival of ‘Wintermageddon,’ only to see the storm dramatically underwhelm – and underperform meteorological expectations.
The deadly, dystopian ice-scape forecasters projected never materialized – resulting in the Palmetto State experiencing far less ice damage (and far fewer power outages) than originally expected.
“The system landed with a relative whimper… leaving most of the state cold and wet, but not remotely in the sort of danger forecasters, government officials and members of the media (us included) warned was imminent,” we noted in our post-mortem of the Arctic blast.
Why did the doom and gloom predictions not come to pass? Most significantly, sleet and snow outperformed freezing rain – which some attributed to the failure of AI-driven models. Meanwhile, temperatures across most the state stayed just warm enough to prevent significant ice accumulation.
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Sadly, the storm did wind up costing two South Carolinians their lives. According to the S.C. Department of Public Health (SCDPH), a 96-year-old woman in Greenwood County, S.C. died on Monday (January 26, 2026) of hypothermia. The previous day, an 83-year-old Lexington County woman died of hypothermia while outside.
“What’s past is prologue,” the upstart crow William Shakespeare noted in The Tempest.
That may hold true in life, but it rarely applies to the weather…
As yet another Arctic incursion threatens to drop significant amounts of winter precipitation on the Palmetto State, will this system live up to the hype?
Or will it be another nothing-burger?
Forecasters are calling for the second major winter system in as many weeks to develop in the Carolinas on Friday evening (January 30, 2026) and continue into Sunday (February 1, 2026). Not only is significant snowfall on the table in connection with this storm, it’s expected.
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I've seen enough. It's gonna happen. pic.twitter.com/0bp76jODY3
— Taylor Kanost (@TKanost) January 28, 2026
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“We are very confident about another Arctic blast of cold air infiltrating the Carolinas this weekend,” the Wilmington, North Carolina office of the National Weather Service (NWS) wrote on X. “This will be some of the coldest air we’ve seen this winter season so far.”
Wilmington’s NWS office provides forecasts for eight South Carolina counties in the northeastern corner of the state – Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Marlboro and Williamsburg. Those are areas which could see significant impacts from the looming system.
“This storm will produce hazardous driving conditions,” Wilmington’s warning continued. “We wouldn’t be surprised that closures and disruptions to infrastructure may occur.”
NWS forecasters aren’t projecting specific snow amounts, but they did note there would be “significant differences in snowfall amounts from place to place, even within the same county.”
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RELATED | WINTERMAGEDDON: ALL HYPE
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“Accumulating snow is likely Friday night through Saturday night across much of the area,” the Greenville-Spartanburg NWS office predicted for its area. “How much snow and where the heaviest amounts fall is still to be determined, so stay tuned!”
The Upstate forecast did project “significant accumulations of snow” across much of the area, “with impacts to travel being the primary concern.”
In the Midlands region of the state, forecasters merely noted “the potential exists for a winter storm across the area this weekend, with snow being the primary threat.”
“There remains uncertainty regarding the exact track of the system, which will impact overall totals,” the Columbia NWS office posted on X.
Early estimates pointed to several inches of the white stuff…
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CAE / Columbia, SC 12z snow totals
— Mitch West (@SCweather_wx) January 28, 2026
Euro – 5.0"
GFS – 4.5"
GEM – 9.3"
UKMET – 2.9"
Euro AI – 3.2" (10:1) closer to 4-5"
GFS AI – 4-6" (only can go off precip map)
NBM – 3.9"
Strong signal of accumulating snow in the Armpit of Hell.
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If these forecasts prove accurate, South Carolina’s capital could wind up seeing its most significant snow accumulation since January 2011 – when three inches fell in and around Columbia.
If they do not prove accurate, forecasters will likely see skepticism of their modeling escalate further.
On Wednesday afternoon (January 28, 2026), NWS’ weather prediction center noted that “confidence continues to increase for a significant heavy snow across much of the Southern Appalachians, Carolinas, and southern mid-Atlantic Friday into Sunday.”
NWS’ latest projections have the northern central region of South Carolina – including Cherokee, Chester, Chesterfield, Lancaster, Union and York – in line to receive the brunt of the snowfall.
Also worth watching? According to NWS, the incoming system will feature “strong winds and coastal impacts,” including “widespread strong winds” up and down the Eastern Seaboard.
“This potent storm system will have an unusually far south track,” forecasters continued, noting “some uncertainty remains with its depth and exact southward extent on Saturday.”
While last weekend’s storm may have been much ado about nothing (at least when compared to its advance billing), it’s worth recalling this sage advice: better to be prepared for the worst and experience nothing than to make no preparations and encounter the worst.
As we await another weekend of anticipated meteorological madness, keep it tuned to FITSNews (and our always lively X feed) for the very latest…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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