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Charlotte Mosquito Forecast

Today's mosquito activity in Charlotte, the week ahead, and what to do about it. Updated hourly.

Bite Index · Sunday, November 8

Low

Mosquito activity in Charlotte is low today.

Few mosquitoes. You may see one or two at dusk near water.

Quieter than a typical November in Mecklenburg County (usually around 31).

  • Tonight: a cool 54°F evening, light wind — poor flying weather, so fewer bites than the population alone would suggest.
  • Only 0.2 in. of rain Oct 15–Oct 29, so few new breeding sites; what's biting is coming from irrigation, pools and creeks.
  • At a two-week average of 60°F, larvae develop slowly and numbers are easing.

The week ahead

Each day's Bite Index, from this week's weather and the rain that is still hatching. Forecast days get less certain as the week goes on.

  1. Today
    17Low67°/39°dry
  2. Mon
    17Low73°/41°dry
  3. Tue
    22Mod.69°/46°dry
  4. Wed
    22Mod.71°/54°dry
  5. Thu
    21Mod.68°/52°dry
  6. Fri
    13Low52°/43°dry
  7. Sat
    12Low50°/39°dry

Protect tonight

You can probably skip repellent tonight.

  1. If you're near a creek, pond or heavy shade at dusk, a light application on ankles and arms is plenty.
  2. Good night to tip out any containers holding water; what you empty now won't hatch next week.
Which repellent, and how much: DEET vs picaridinBest natural repellents

Why Charlotte's mosquitoes do what they do

Charlotte's creeks — Little Sugar, Briar, McAlpine — run through a city of tree-lined neighborhoods with warm, humid summers, and the Asian tiger mosquito owns the backyards. Mecklenburg County does not run a spray program, so Public Health's role is surveillance and advisories; it warned of a West Nile uptick after three positive detections in Charlotte in 2026.

  • Creek greenways: Little Sugar and McAlpine Creeks leave shaded pools after storms.
  • Tree canopy: shade and leaf-filled gutters favor the daytime-biting Asian tiger mosquito.
  • No county spraying: control is up to residents, so container-dumping matters more here than in cities with abatement districts.
  • Real winter: frosts from November end the season.

A typical year in Mecklenburg County

The long-run mosquito index by month from our season map (NOAA climate normals plus effort-corrected sightings). Today's Bite Index is the live version of this; the month you're in is marked.

  1. JJanuary: 0
  2. FFebruary: 0
  3. MMarch: 10
  4. AApril: 35
  5. MMay: 56
  6. JJune: 74
  7. JJuly: 88
  8. AAugust: 94
  9. SSeptember: 86
  10. OOctober: 63
  11. NNovember: 31
  12. DDecember: 0

Local surveillance and West Nile virus

The Bite Index measures nuisance biting, not disease. Mecklenburg County's health department traps and tests mosquitoes through the season and publishes positive West Nile pools by ZIP code. When your ZIP has an active advisory, follow it regardless of today's number.

How the Bite Index is scored

The index is a model of conditions, not a mosquito count. Four weather factors are combined on a 0–100 scale, then scaled by the season. Every factor and today's value for it is listed here so you can check the number yourself. It uses the same temperature curve and rain logic as our county-level mosquito season map, which has been validated against effort-corrected sighting data across 41 states.

BBreeding pressure

Rain 7–14 days ago (0.2 in. between Oct 15 and Oct 29). Eggs need water to hatch, and at summer temperatures the egg-to-biting-adult cycle takes about a week, so today's mosquitoes are last week's rain. Cool weather stretches the window; hot dry days shrink it as shallow water evaporates.

Weight 40%
Today 0%

DDevelopment

The trailing two-week average temperature, on the same curve as our national season map: nothing below 50°F, full speed at 78–88°F, a small penalty in extreme heat.

Weight 25%
Today 36%

ATonight's activity

Whether the population that exists will actually fly and bite this evening: dusk temperature (65–85°F is ideal), wind (they stop flying around 10 mph), humidity, and rain around sunset.

Weight 25%
Today 26%

GGround truth

A nudge from local trap counts and reports when we have them. For Charlotte this is neutral today; the health department's surveillance is linked above and will feed this factor as we wire it in.

Weight 10%
Today neutral

SSeason gate

A multiplier from the calendar: fully open in the city's season months, half-open in the shoulder months, nearly closed in deep winter unless the week is warm. Below a 50°F weekly average the index is simply 0.

Weight ×
Today 60%

index = 100 × S × (0.40 × (0.2 + 0.8·B) + 0.25 × D + 0.25 × A + 0.10 × (0.5 + 0.5·G))

Bands: Low 0–20 · Moderate 21–40 · High 41–60 · Very High 61–80 · Severe 81–100. Weather is from Open-Meteo (observations and the 7-day forecast), refreshed hourly. The lag and temperature thresholds follow published work on Culex and Aedes development (Rueda et al. 1990; Cornell NRCC degree-day emergence; JAMCA 2024 on rainfall two to four weeks before trap peaks).

Questions people ask about mosquitoes in Charlotte

When is mosquito season in Charlotte?
May through October, peaking in July and August. Frost, usually November, ends it.
Why does Charlotte have so many daytime mosquitoes?
The Asian tiger mosquito breeds in small shaded containers and bites by day. It is the dominant nuisance species in Charlotte's leafy neighborhoods, and it does not fly far, so your own yard is usually the source.
Is West Nile virus a risk in Charlotte?
Yes. Mecklenburg County detected it in mosquitoes in 2026 and has recorded human cases in recent years. The county's alerts are authoritative; follow them over the index.
Where does this forecast's data come from?
Open-Meteo weather for uptown Charlotte, scored by our documented model and compared with Mecklenburg County's season-map climatology. Not a trap count.

Also covers Concord, Huntersville, Matthews, Gastonia, Mint Hill, Fort Mill, Freedom Park, Lake Norman: the forecast point is central Charlotte, and conditions within about 30 miles track it closely. Weather fetched Nov 8, 12:28 PM local time.

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