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This past weekend our lovely Queens City of Charlotte had a close encounter with winter. Being a nominally “southern city,” this is not the place people expect to see snow. As a matter of record, Winnie and I chose to retire here partially based on believing we’d see less wintery stuff than in Woodbridge, Virginia.
However, snow has now come to Charlotte. It’s not nearly as exciting as that may sound.
The Last Week
This winter wonderland weather actually started a week earlier. Winnie and I woke up on a Saturday morning to our neighborhood covered in white. It wasn’t a weather-forcasted event, so caught us by surprise. Along with the rest of Charlotte. Then, over last week the temps stubbornly hovered at freezing or below. So that white stuff lingered like an unwelcome guest.
Gone to Tennessee
We had made plans to spend last week in Kentucky and then Tennessee. One of my grand-nephews was getting married in in Nashville, Tennessee, this past Saturday. My brother Howard and wife Pam had moved to Kentucky a couple of years ago and we hadn’t been out to see them since they moved. So, we planned on a dual vist of first Kentucky, then Tennessee, then back home. It was a plan.
With weather forecasts calling for freezing temps all week, we decided to cut our trip short. We skipped out on the Kentucky leg, and met Howard and Pam in Tennessee on Thursday evening. Friday we visited some family in the Nashville area. The weather stayed stubbornly cold, enough to seriously annoy me.
Snow For Me But Not for Thee
Saturday morning it started snowing here in Charlotte. However, we had no snow where we were in Nashville. Just, stubbornly cold. And lots of ice. We had driven our Thor Scope RV and discovered that it did not handle icy parking lots all that well. In fact, we had our 15 minutes of fame when we became seriously stuck on the ice-coated parking lot of the church where the wedding was held. Eventually, four people were advising me, several people had to move their cars, and one thoughtful person provided me a large package of kitty litter for traction.
Based on watching our weather app, it snowed most of the day here. We had planned on returning home Sunday and knew all that snow would still be around. So, after the wedding and on the way back to our hotel Saturday night, we bought a “Tennessee Snow Shovel.” It seems actual snow shovels don’t exist in that part of the country. I went to two hardware stores, and both times was pointed to a “scoop shovel.”
So we missed living through the great Charlotte snowstorm of 2026. Charlotte ended up getting eleven inches (at the airport), the heaviest one-day snow recorded here in twenty years.
Returning Home
Winnie and I did get back on the road home early Sunday morning. It was snowing lightly at our hotel, but nothing I was nervous about driving in. The trip home was pleasant, and we saw snow lining the roads the entire drive. Several spots on the highway only had one lane cleared, but it was warm enough snow was melting and no ice worries. But, I saw all that water covering the roads and was happy I would not be driving at night. Black ice is the only road condition that scares me.
Snow Shoveling
We returning home to discover most roadways in and around Charlotte had not been plowed. So, once we pulled into our cul-de-sac, Winnie hopped out and put our new snow shovel to good use. She occasionally let me help her. But, mostly I just moved cars around while she cleared our driveway.
The Next Week
Weather forecasts show nighttime freezing weather all week, with possibility of either snow or rain later this week. Or maybe not. Whatever. I think we’ll be spending a lot of this week inside our house.
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