North Carolina's 2010 winter storm updates [North Carolina Winter Storm]

Raleigh-Durham International Airport has cancellations on their mind. JetBlue and Delta have jumped aboard with some flights canceled. Travelers are suggested to check with their airline for any delays or cancellations.

It's was snowing in Greensboro earlier this evening as the snow slowly inches it's way eastward. Wral.com had a live Greensboro stream to show the viewers. The snow definitely was dropping as described on the local station. However, the stream dropped too after the first set of flakes came to view leading to a computer error on live television. A funny sight, but a vision as to what's to come.

Preparations were made during the day in becoming better equipped for this very intense winter storm. The temperatures are dropping in Cary. Fayetteville is experiencing the same. But what can everyone expect by tomorrow night?

The earlier reports have proven less than what local weather models show this evening.

Central North Carolina, including Raleigh, is said to receive between 6 to 9-inches of snow and sleet. North of Wake County is said to receive from 10 to 12-inches of snow as the southern portion of North Carolina is going to experience freezing rain and ice. The extreme southern border of North Carolina may dodge this winter storm bullet, but everyone else should be prepared.

The North Carolina National Guard will assist during this winter snow storm as the state has called in 30 National Guard members for active duty. The National Guard will be beneficial since state budget cuts sliced DOT efforts in dealing with this winter storm.

Even though the DOT spread 100,000 gallons of salt brine the question is will they have enough man power to plow the roads? Some trucks will remain at stand still since there will not be enough employees to operate them. For more on that story visit Wral.com.

As of 7 p.m. snow has been spotted in Cary, North Carolina. Raleigh here it comes!

Major winter storm unfolding across the south

January 29, 8:58 AM
Raleigh Weather Examiner
Allan Huffman

“Major winter storm unfolding in the southern US”

Our major southeast winter storm is currently pounding the southern plains with snow and ice yesterday in Texas and Oklahoma, and moving into southern Missouri and Arkansas today. This may be remembered as an I-40 winter storm as the precip expands east and seems to focus along I-40 the next 48 hours.

Cold and dry air is moving into North Carolina this morning with temperatures in the low to mid 30s and dewpoints in the teens. This air mass is setting the stage for our winter storm and will continue to be advected in by a building surface high in the Great Lakes that will ridge into the northeast US the next few days.

Ok, so down to the storm. I have updated my map below with the latest forecast. I will issue updates to the map if I see a need to make a change to the zones.

Zone A: I think a band of 12-18 inches of snow could fall across the extreme northern North Carolina piedmont as well as the southern Virginia border counties. This area should see mostly all snow although I can not rule out a little sleet in the eastern sections of this zone.

Zone B: This area will see a substantial snow with as much as 6-10 inches likely. Most areas will likely see all snow from this in this zone. If there is any last minute trend north, this area could see closer to a foot or more, if there is a last second trend south some areas in this zone will only see light accumulations.

Zone C: This zone which includes most of the I-40 corridor in North Carolina from Hickory to Raleigh as well as the northeast piedmont will likely see a snow/sleet mix with more snow than sleet. We will see a substantial period of all snow to start which could accumulate to 6-8 inches. Then by Saturday morning sleet could mix in and limit further big snow accumulations, a change back to snow with light snow accumulations is likely Saturday afternoon and evening. IF, we see less sleet mix in, this area could easily see 12-15 inches of snow. For now though, I think we do see some sleet mix in and thus this area will see 8-12 inches of total snow and sleet accumulation.

Zone D: To keep continuity I kept the major ice area zone D. I have shifted this a little south though, south of the Charlotte area. This region from the North Carolina sandhills into the southeast piedmont and much of upstate South Carolina and extreme NE Georgia could see a severe ice storm. I think at least 0.5 inch of ice accrual will occur with as much as 1 inch of ice accrual possible. This will be a severe event and you should be ready to lose trees and power. The western part of this zone could see the precip begin as rain and snow and change to snow with some light accumulations before a change to freezing rain.

Zone E: This zone lies between the severe ice storm and the zone that will see mostly snow and only some sleet. I think this zone sees a healthy mix of snow and sleet especially from the southern foothills east, that will accumulate to 4-8 inches. The southern mountains could see more snow than sleet and could end up higher than 8 inches, but for now this seems like a good call.

Zone F: This zone will see significant ice, but not as much as zone D. Many areas will likely start as rain and transition to ice. I could see 0.25-0.5 inch ice accrual of freezing rain in this zone. Areas south of this zone could see some marginal freezing rain but not as much as this area.

Zone G: This zone will likely see rain change to snow or sleet Saturday. For now I will keep accumulations light at 1-2 inches, but this will be an area to monitor to see when the changeover occurs.

Zone H: This is a tricky area, and I don’t pretend to know southeast Tennessee climo well. It looks like a mess that could go either way, some runs have shown a heavy wet snow and other mostly rain. I think a mixed bag will fall here with some snow accumulation likely.

I also want to mention that the models are showing the possibility for thunder Saturday morning into early afternoon in northern North Carolina and southern Virginia. So don’t be surprised if you hear thunder tomorrow morning in those areas.

Very cold weather will follow this storm the snow cover causing very cold overnight lows and reducing the warming potential during the day. For now the models look paltry for any precipitation Tuesday/Wednesday but if some does come we may have to worry about at least some freezing rain. For now I leave that mention out.

Utilities brace for ice and snow

by Eren Tataragasi
2 hrs 22 mins ago

Much of the state was busy bracing Friday for a winter storm.

Progress Energy Carolina said it was preparing for a storm that’s been forecasted to dump significant snow and ice over much of the company’s service area from Friday through Saturday.

This image from the National Weather Service shows the winter storm
covering all of North Carolina.

The electric company has crews at the ready all the way from the Virginia state line, northeastern part of South Carolina to the North Carolina Mountains and coast, preparing vehicles and materials to respond to outages that may occur.

Crews from the company’s sister utility, Progress Energy Florida, are also being moved into the region ahead of the storm to assist as needed in restoring service in heavily damaged areas.

If during the storm you experience a power outage, you can call Progress Energy at (800) 419-6356.

Some standard tips from Progress include, if you’re using a generator in the event of an outage, operate it outside of your home and connect appliances directly to it, do not connect it to your fuse box. Also, never operate a charcoal or gas grill inside your home.

Bruce Simmons, director of marketing and communications for Pee Dee Electric, said the company spent much of Thursday readying its crew and linemen with information about the storm plan and making sure there’s a good communication system in place. All seven counties in the district are under the winter weather warning.

“We’re making sure everyone has equipment in order and that all trucks are topped off with fuel,” Simmons said. “We’re sharpening the edge of the blade, so to speak, so we can get out there as soon as possible when something happens.”

Simmons said the statewide organization, North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives, has not opened it’s storm center yet in Raleigh, but will as soon as the winter weather makes its way into the state.

“We’ll monitor it as it moves across the state and determine the severity,” Simmons said. “Through the center anyone with outages can call to other area co-ops for help, and we have contract electric companies who can help also. But so far it’s sunny out and we’re just gearing up. We anticipate it will probably begin tomorrow (Saturday) morning.”

Richmond County’s public utilities crews also started topping of their tanks and making sure all of their equipment worked ahead of the storm. And as a precaution, Richmond County Schools canceled Richmond Senior High School’s basketball game against Hoke County.

So far, forecasters with the National Weather Service have a winter storm warning for Edgecombe, Johnston, Wilson, Stanly, Montgomery, Moore, Lee, Harnett, Wayne, Anson, Richmond, Scotland, Hoke, Cumberland and Sampson counties.

The cold air spreading over central North Carolina is creating a low-pressure system moving across the lower Mississippi River Valley that will move across the deep south Friday night then into northeast off the Carolina coast late Saturday.

The National Weather Service (NWS) is calling for “damaging ice accumulations of a quarter inch or more ... . The precipitation will start as snow, rain mixed, then change to predominantly freezing rain late tonight and continue through Saturday. As much as a third of an inch ice accrual is expected.

The NWS said precipitation will be at its heaviest from Friday night through early Saturday afternoon.

For more information visit www.noaa.gov.

Staff writer Eren Tataragasi can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 19 or at etataragasi@yourdailyjournal.com.

Snow moves into Charlotte; sleet not expected until Saturday

By Steve Lyttle
slyttle@charlotteobserver
Posted: Friday, Jan. 29, 2010

Snow continued to coat parts of the Charlotte metro region Friday evening, heralding the arrival of what is forecast to be a major winter storm across much of the Carolinas.

Winter storm and ice storm warnings are posted for all of the Charlotte area, with sleet and snow expected near Charlotte, heavy snow to the north, and a possible crippling ice storm between Charlotte and Columbia.

One meteorologist noted that the latest computer predictions indicated that the snow in Charlotte might not change to sleet until daybreak Saturday. That would mean a heavy accumulation of snow in Charlotte, instead of the 1 to 3 inches predicted earlier.

The N.C. Highway Patrol reported “near white out conditions” for Catawba and Iredell counties just before 7 tonight, according to the Web site of the N.C. Department of Transportation.

The DOT site reported eastbound Interstate 40 was down to one lane between mile markers 120 and 135 in Catawba County near Hickory. The site said multiple accidents and reduced visibility in the area was causing hazardous travel conditions.

Iredell saw a rash of accidents over a 40-minute period early Friday evening , but no serious injuries were reported, said a dispatcher with the county sheriff’s office.

The early-arriving snow fell much harder than meteorologists had expected in the foothills and mountains.

Mike Dross, who runs a Charlotte-based private meteorological firm, said lightning strikes were being reported in the Asheville area -- a sign of very heavy snow falling, perhaps at a rate of 2 inches per hour.

And a National Weather Service observer reported at 7 p.m. that 2.3 inches of snow fell in one hour at Canton, in Haywood County west of Asheville. Accumulations at 7 p.m. included a report of 5 inches on the ground at Hudson, in Caldwell County, north of Hickory; and 3 inches at Connelly Springs in Burke County, near Morganton.

Road crews and utility companies are hurrying preparations in advance of the storm.

Heavy snow and sleet has fallen for much of the day across Tennessee, causing major travel problems in Nashville and Memphis. The winter storm headed for the Carolinas is the same system responsible for dumping heavy sleet and freezing rain in Oklahoma, northern Texas and Arkansas on Thursday.

In advance of the storm, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announced that their facilities will be closed this weekend -- which means the cancelation of recreational basketball league games in CMS school gyms.

Forecasters said Friday afternoon that they are fairly certain that the immediate Charlotte area will receive a couple inches of snow and sleet, plus up to 1/4 inch of ice accumulation on trees and power lines. Power outages are not expected to be a major problem in Charlotte, but areas to the south could experience widespread problems. Duke Energy reported less than 18,000 outages across the Carolinas just after 8 p.m.

The heaviest ice accumulations, possibly up to 1/2 inch, are expected in the area covered by the ice storm -- Newberry, Fairfield, Kershaw, and Marlboro counties in South Carolina, and Scotland and Robeson counties in North Carolina.

Forecasters say they think mostly snow will fall north of Interstate 85, especially from Lake Norman northward. A mix of snow and sleet is expected in the immediate Charlotte area, with between 2 and 5 inches accumulating. Mostly sleet will fall in a corridor across northern York and Lancaster counties and central Union and Anson counties, forecasters say.

Between 8 and 12 inches of snow are expected for the Interstate 40 corridor, for Statesville and Hickory. But 6 inches or more also could fall in the Lake Norman area.

Road and utility company crews began preparing Thursday for all possibilities and are still at work today. State crews spread brine -- a mix of salt and water -- on state and federal routes Thursday afternoon and evening.

"We began our work yesterday, because we have 940 lane miles to treat," said Jen Thompson, of the N.C. Department of Transportation in Mecklenburg County. "Today, our crews are working on Interstates 77 and 85, and on bridges."

Charlotte road officials are treating the roads today with brine and are going on full alert at 7 p.m., said Ken Miller, of the Charlotte Department of Transportation.

"Our crews will work straight through until Sunday evening, if needed," Miller said.

Dara Demi, a spokeswoman for the N.C. DOT, said crews in the western part of the state won’t even worry about brine, since heavy snow is expected there. Some will battle the storm with plows, she said. Demi said brine is being spread on highways in the eastern part of the state.

Crews in other Piedmont cities were doing the same thing. In Hickory, for example, workers spread 2,000 gallons of brine on streets. It was the similar story in Concord and Gastonia.

Meanwhile, crews from Duke Energy and the region’s electric cooperatives went on full alert, ready to deal with power outages if large amounts of freezing rain fall.

And Medic, Mecklenburg County’s emergency medical service, is putting extra crews on duty to deal with the possibility of weather-caused wrecks.

Kristin Young, a spokeswoman for Medic, said the best solution Saturday might be to stay home.

"If the winter weather does affect the county, Medic is encouraging the community to stay home and stay off the roads until the winter storm passes and roads are eventually cleared," Young said.

The N.C. DOT’s Jen Thompson said the same thing.

"Our recommendation is to stay home and watch the snow," she said.

Precipitation is expected to taper off Saturday afternoon, but it will be followed by cold air. Temperatures will tumble into the teens Sunday morning, causing the sleet and snow to refreeze. And Monday morning’s lows could be near 10 degrees in some places.

April Bethea contributed

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.