The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a cold, wet, white winter for most of North Carolina in 2018 so be ready to weather strip your windows, pull out the space heaters and curl up with a blanket!
For prolonged power outages and ice storms consider if getting a stand alone generator wired directly into your home's electrical panel is the easiest worry free option for your family.
More on the Farmer's Almanac predictions here.