2/2/2026
City of Morganton offices and facilities will be on a regular schedule (8am-5pm) on Tuesday, February 3rd, except for the Mountain View indoor pool which will be open from 9am-5pm.
Garbage collection will start on Wednesday. Monday’s route will be collected on Wednesday; Tuesday’s route will be collected on Thursday and Wednesday’s and Thursday’s route will be picked up on Friday. We are asking all city residents to bring your garbage to the street. If this changes throughout the week, due to improved roads conditions, we will let you know.
As a reminder, the regularly scheduled Morganton City Council meeting that was planned for Feb. 2nd has been postponed until Monday, February 9th, 2026 at 6pm at City Hall Council Chambers. This includes the public hearing for rezoning.
Please report any water main breaks to our Water Resources Departments at 828-438-5276.
Please stay tuned to the county and city websites and social media for update and any new information.
1/30/2026
In this second round of wintry weather, our Public Works crews are preparing all equipment and will be working 24/7 until streets are cleared once more.
We would like to make our citizens aware that we cannot plow the thousands of driveways or driveway entrances in the City. Unfortunately, there’s no way to clear the roads without some snow ending up back at the end of driveways, so please be patient and work with us through the storm.
When cleaning your driveway, pile snow to the right side, facing the street. This will reduce the amount of snow that gets pushed back into your driveway by the plow. If you put it back into the street, plows could push it back into your driveway when they come by again.
Please do not plow, blow or shovel snow from your driveway or sidewalks into the street. This practice is dangerous and slows down emergency response.
The residential areas are the most difficult because of people’s driveways, mailboxes, parked cars, and they are hilly and narrow, and many cases are very dangerous during a winter event.
If you are in a situation where you can park in a garage or in your driveway that is recommend. If you must use on street parking, please park on the even house address side of the street.
Please stay tuned to the city website and social media for possible delays on Monday for garbage collection. We thank you in advance for your patience as we all work through this winter storm.
1/26/2026
Morganton City Hall will be on a three-hour delay for employees and the public on Tuesday, January 27th due to inclement weather.
Our Public Works crews have been working around the clock to get our streets in good shape and will continue scraping roads as necessary.
1/25/2026
City of Morganton residential garbage collection will be on a modified schedule due to the wintry mix Morganton received over the past few days. Please see the following schedule for this week. Monday’s route will be collected on Wednesday, Tuesday’s route will be collected on Thursday and Wednesday’s and Thursday’s route will be picked up on Friday. As of Monday morning, we are asking all city residents to bring your garbage to the street. If this changes throughout the week, due to improved roads conditions, we will let you know. Our Public Works crews have been out working on the roads on 12 hours shifts since Saturday and will continue to plow roads. Thank you to all of our essential workers in the City for all their hard work during this storm. We will be giving an update on whether City Hall will be open tomorrow, Tuesday, Janary 27th, later this afternoon. Please stay tuned to the City website and social media for more updates.
1/25/2026
Please see below a link the January 25th, 2026 joint release from the Burke County Joint Information Center.
Winter Weather Storm Update - January 25th
1/24/2026
8:30pm - Please see below a link the latest joint release from the Burke County Joint Information Center.
6:30pm - Morganton City Hall will be closed on Monday, January 26th due to inclement weather and for the safety of the public. This includes administrative offices and nonessential services. This includes recreation facilities as well.
Burke County opens medical and special needs shelter at Collett Street Recreation
Center, 300 Collett Street, Morganton, NC, effective 6:00 pm Saturday, January 24th, 2026.
Decisions for prolonged closures for City Hall will be made on Monday. Please stay off roads and only drive if necessary.
Our city crews are ready to respond to what the storm will bring. We will keep updates coming as quickly as we can. Our Public Works and Electric crews are working together to remove any trees that may fall on the roadways.
Please stay tuned to the county and city websites and social media for update and any new information.
There may be power outages that occur as this storm progresses. If you do lose power, please report it to our electric services department at 828-438-5277(City of Morganton Electric Services).
Please report any water main breaks to our Water Resources Departments at 828-438-5276.
Utility Outage Reporting
• Duke Energy: Call 1-800-769-3766 or text OUT to 57801 to report a power outage
with Duke Energy.
• Rutherford Electric Membership / REMC: 1-800-521-0920 or the local office at
828-584-1410.• Town of Drexel: (828) 430-1794
• City of Morganton Electric Outage Reporting: 828-438-5277(City Electric
Services).
Water/Sewer Outage or Utility Reporting
• City of Morganton Water/Sewer Outage: 828-438-5276.
• Burke County Water & Sewer: 828-764-9063 (Burke County Water & Sewer
Office).
• Icard Township Water Corporation: 828-397-6294 (main & emergency contact).
• Brentwood Water Corporation: 828-584-4566; after-hours emergency water only
at 828-764-7790 or 828-764-7930.
• City of Hickory Public Utilities (Water): 828-323-7427.
6:00pm - Please see this update from the Burke Joint Information Center.
Burke County Winter Weather Update
11:00am - This is Burke County's Joint Information Center with an important winter storm update.
Burke County is now under a State of Emergency, which went into effect at 8:00 a.m. this morning.
As of 10:00 a.m., radar is showing precipitation moving into the mountains. Most of this initial band of precipitation will move north into Virginia. Forecasters expect the real precipitation to begin between 4 pm and 7 pm as snow and sleet, then transition to all sleet. Temperatures will fall rapidly into the 20s this afternoon. 1 - 4 inches of sleet is possible.
As a reminder, all Burke County Solid Waste Convenience Centers and landfill will close at Noon today.
Travel conditions are expected to deteriorate quickly and may become impossible after 7:00 pm this evening.
Tonight, sleet is expected to transition to freezing rain as warmer air moves in above the surface, while temperatures at ground level remain in the 20s. This will likely result in significant ice accumulation.
Destructive ice accumulations (.50 - .75) are possible from Sunday morning through Monday morning, which may cause long-duration and widespread power outages. The higher elevations in the south mountains and along the Blue Ridge Escarpment are now expected to see 1 inch of ice, which would lead to catastrophic impacts to the power grid.
We have approximately six to eight hours remaining to complete final storm preparations. Residents are strongly encouraged to finish preparations immediately and avoid travel once conditions worsen.
Warming centers are planned across the county and will be opened as conditions require. When a warming center becomes available, its location will be shared geographically through Reverse 911 notifications. Please note that warming centers are not shelters. These are locations set up for residents to go to for a few hours to warm up, charge their phones, and use the internet if available.
While Burke County has a sheltering plan in place and will open a shelter if needed, no shelters are open at this time. If that changes, we will share that information promptly.
Significant cold weather will follow this winter storm.
Our Joint Information Center is active, and we will continue distributing updates throughout the storm. We recognize how concerning another high-impact event can be, especially after Hurricane Helene sixteen months ago. The lessons learned from that storm have strengthened our preparedness today.
Our public information line is open at 828-764-9388 for non-emergency questions.
For emergencies, please call 911.
For non-emergency public safety issues, call 828-437-1911 or 828-438-5500.
Please stay safe. A public briefing will be held on county social media platforms today at 2:00 p.m.
8:00am - Please see the below joint press release from the Burke County Joint Information Center
Burke County Joint Information Winter Storm Update
1/23/2026
Please see the below joint press release from the Burke County Joint Information Center
Burke County Enacts State of Emergency for Weekend Winter Storm. Residents Urged to Prepare
1/22/2026
City prepares for weekend winter storm
In advance of the anticipated winter weather event this weekend, the City of Morganton is preparing all departments necessary to keep roadways clear and residents safe. Our staff and crews are ready to respond, with equipment, materials, and staffing in place to address hazardous conditions and maintain essential services throughout the storm.
Public Works Department
The City of Morganton will have crews and equipment setup for around the clock operation to clear streets of winter accumulation. Starting Thursday morning, crews will be spreading a brine mixture followed by salt and sand that will be spread on all critical areas such as hills and bridges. After that, crews will continue to monitor the streets until the accumulation reaches a depth that crews can start to scrape snow.
The focus will first be on primary streets and then secondary streets and then residential streets.
Public Works Director Michael Chapman said, “We have to make sure all emergency medical vehicles, police and fire engines are able to use the primary roads. The 89.05 miles of roads we have to maintain are equally important, but we have to prioritize it somehow with the amount of resources we have.”
Please note that vehicles parked on the street are a tremendous obstacle. Residents can help by parking off the street or aligning vehicles on one side of the street. Also, please do not put any debris or bulk trash at the street as we approach the storm. We will also have a crew on standby to clear sidewalks in downtown Morganton.
Chapman said, “We are prepared and working on brine tanks and making sure all equipment are oiled and working correctly.”
The City has six snowplow trucks, a skid steer snowplow for parking lots, motor grader, a backhoe and rubber tire loader to move and pick up larger amounts of snow. The City has contracted with other companies in the past to receive extra help clearing streets if needed.
Chapman said, “Anytime winter weather is approaching, we have crews working on 12-hour shifts to get roads cleared as quickly and safely as we can.”
Residential garbage collection will be on a one-day delay for the week of January 26-30. Please watch our website and social media for updates on any further delays on residential garbage pick-up.
If our residents have questions, they can call Public Works at: 828-438-5248.
Electric Services Department
The City is aware customers could be without power due to the storm. If you are a City of Morganton electric customer, you can call at 828-438-5277 to report a power outage.
Please do not report power outages through social media channels. Remember that if you are without power your cable and internet service will not work, but will come back online once power is restored. The City encourages you to not touch or move downed power lines. Contact the City electric department to report any downed lines so that we can address them as quickly as possible. If you do not have City power then you will need to contact your electric supplier at the numbers below.
Duke Power - 1-800-PowerOn
Rutherford Electric - 1-800-228-9756
The City will announce updates on the City website, social media, WMNC radio and CoMPAS Cable TV, and we staff the operations center during winter storms.
Water Resources Department
To prevent pipes from breaking within your home, you can leave a faucet dripping.
If you see a water main break, please report it to the Water Resources Department at 828 - 438-5276.
Morganton Public Safety
If you have to be out on city streets before they are cleared or the temperature rises enough to melt, please be aware of slick streets and drive slower than normal. Please limit travel to emergencies and stay tuned to City of Morganton Government website and social media and Morganton Public Safety social media for road closures and any power outage information. If you have any questions, please call Morganton Public Safety Headquarters at 828-438-5290.
Morganton Public Safety has provided a list of tips for inclement weather. Please see below.
- Please don’t wait until the last minute to stock up on groceries, water, flashlights, batteries, or pick up needed prescriptions.
- Take a moment to check in on your neighbors and those that may need a hand. Look out for one another!
- We know how tempting it is to drive around in the winter weather to see what’s “going on” out there. But unless it’s an emergency, please stay home and off the roads.
- If you must be on the road: completely clear the snow from your roof & windows, give yourself extra time to stop, increase your following distance, use your headlights, brake & steer gently, and stay FOCUSED.
- With the threat of sleet & ice accumulation comes the possibility of power outages and downed power lines. Treat every downed power line as if it’s live. Stay away and call your utility provider. If it’s an immediate hazard, call 911.
- Please make sure your smoke & CO2 detectors are working properly in the event you must use an alternate source of heat.
- Please reserve 911 for life-threatening emergencies. The dispatchers still juggle regular fire, medical and police calls despite the weather. Help us keep the lines open for those in urgent need.
- Our officers will be out on the roads 24/7, but please work together with us to keep our community safe!