First snow of the season fun for some, dangerous to drivers
The Wake County Public School System joined the list of those canceling school on Monday as the Triangle digs out from a snowstorm that dropped double digits of snow and steady rain followed.
Posted — UpdatedHighlights:
- From Roxboro to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, communities measured the snow in the double digits.
- Power outages peaked at more than 250,000 customers across the state.
- Thousands of flights, including all international flights bound for RDU, were delayed or canceled
Updates:
After midnight, the intensity of precipitation will increase and an upper-level low, paired with cooling aloft could freeze what falls.
"We could see a period of frozen precipitation again Monday morning, as late as 11 a.m., which could amount to another inch or less of snow," Maze said.
The greater threat for black ice comes Tuesday, Wednesday and even Thursday morning, when temperatures are forecast to be in the 20s.
Make-up days are scheduled as follows:
- Traditional-Calendar Schools: Friday, January 18
- Modified-Calendar Schools: Monday, December 17
- Wake Young Men’s and Women’s Leadership Academies: Thursday, December 20
- Wake STEM Early College: Friday, January 4
- Vernon Malone Career and College Academy, Wake Early College of Health Sciences, North Wake College and Career Academy: Thursday, January 3
- Year-Round, Track 1: No make-up day required
- Year-Round, Track 2: Saturday, December 15
- Year-Round, Track 3: Saturday, December 15
- Year-Round, Track 4: Saturday, December 15
- Barwell Road Elementary and Walnut Creek Elementary: Friday, December 21
- Carroll Middle, East Garner Middle, East Millbrook Middle: Friday, February 15
- Fox Road Elementary: Tuesday, February 19
Wake Tech canceled classes for Monday as well, including the Adult High School and High School Equivalency graduation ceremony scheduled for Monday evening.
Ray Richardson, who took his dog out for a walk to survey conditions, said he hear loud booms like transformers blowing.
Final exams that were scheduled to begin Monday at 8 a.m. will be postponed until Saturday, Dec. 15, at 1 p.m.
Exams scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. will take place as planned.
WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said those who were seeing rain, in communities from Raleigh and south, had likely gotten their share of snow and would not see more.
Heavy snow was still falling in Roxboro, Oxford, Henderson and into southern Virginia.
"The transition of snow to rain has slowed its progress north. It'd kind of stuck between Durham and Raleigh," Gardner said.
Winds and rain that followed the snow made for a chilly afternoon. Although temperatures were steadily above freezing, wind gusts of up to 35 mph made it feel like 20 degrees in Raleigh and Durham, Gardner said.
Duke Street was closed between Leon and Murray avenues, and power outages were reported across Durham County.
The correlation coefficient, which looks at the shape of what the radar is hitting, can differentiate between snow and rain.
Just before 1 p.m., that was a line running west to east across Hillsborough, Durham, Stem, Louisburg and Enfield.
Communities that had seen steady snow all morning were finally seeing that start to transition to rain, Fishel said.
A tree fell on a house on Markham Drive in Chapel Hill. In Holly Springs, heavy snow collapsed a roof at Doyle's Christmas tree stand.
In Lee County, a tree fell on an apartment building in Sanford, damaging four units and leaving at least eight people without a place to stay. One man suffered a broken leg.
A Sanford Fire Department spokesman said the tree was old and possibly toppled when roots released from the saturated ground.
"Don't be fooled -- this storm is treacherous," said Gov. Roy Cooper in an 11 a.m. press conference. "Already some areas have seen more than a foot of snow, and we still have hours and inches of sleet and snow to come. You put first responders at risk by going out."
Numerous crashes have already been reported, according to the governor. Part of U.S. 70 is closed in Kinston after a tractor trailer ran off a road into the Neuse River.
A total of 170,000 North Carolina households are without power, most in the mountains, in the Triangle and in Mecklenburg County.
172 National Guard members and 60 special vehicles are responding, according to Gov. Cooper. Eleven shelters have opened in western North Carolina.
According to Gardner, while heavy snow continues to fall in Durham, conditions in Raleigh are drastically improving. Temperatures will climb into the mid 30s Sunday afternoon, eliminating much of the snow and slush from the roads.
Temperatures will stay above freezing overnight, but, by 6 a.m., they could drop back into the low 30s, and more snow and freezing rain is possible.
"We could add on another inch to our snow totals," said Gardner of Monday morning, though it's too soon to know for sure.
For this reason, the Monday morning commute could be treacherous, although conditions will improve by 3 p.m. According to Gardner, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings will also be cold, which could make for some slick areas.
According to WRAL reporter Cullen Browder, the trip into Durham from WRAL-TV studios in Raleigh is a different world.
Temperatures will linger in the low to mid 30s Sunday before dropping to 32 degrees overnight and into Monday. Monday morning will be cloudy and chilly, and there will be another slight chance of showers and snow. After what could be a messy morning commute and afternoon, conditions will be dry for the rest of the work week.
Durham Tech also announced that classes will be canceled Monday.
According to Shrader, some secondary roads and bridges in Wake County could be icy this evening and for the Monday morning commute, which will see temperatures in the 20s and low 30s.
In Wake Forest it is still snowing, but that area could see snow change over to freezing rain in the next hour, according to Gardner.
"For us, the snow is over," said Gardner. "If you have already transitioned over to rain, you won't see snow again."
Even after the snow stopped, the fun continued for many. Sledders were spotted in Dix Park in Raleigh, and WRAL News has already received hundreds of photos showing snowmen, pets and children playing and more.
"Please stay off the roads today, if you can, so our crews can safely work," Durham officials posted to Facebook.
A wintry mix of snow and rain is still falling rapidly in Durham, where roads also remain treacherous. Drive 5 spotted plows clearing snow from the Durham Freeway.
Before the snow stopped, almost 6 inches of precipitation fell at the WRAL-TV studios. More than 130,000 are currently without power in the state, and the number is expected to climb.
According to Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead, it appears that most people are heeding warnings and staying home, as the county had reported only 14 stranded motorist calls. "We are in full weather mode," Birkhead told WRAL News in a phone call. "We have chains on our vehicles that have to be out and we are not responding to calls that are not necessary."
According to Gardner, areas near the Virginia line will keep seeing snow Sunday, while rain is expected to takeover Raleigh soon and Durham and Chapel Hill a but later. At 7:45 a.m, snow totals in northwest Wake County were at 6.5 inches, snow totals in Chapel Hill were at 6.4 and snow totals in Rocky Mount were at 4.3 inches.
"There are so many areas where we are seeing vehicles try to get up hills but fail," said Sgt. Knox, who said the thick heavy snow is causing a variety of issues.
"If you are not essential to wherever you are going, you don't need to go," said Knox. "Our call volume is extremely heightened. Our interstates are particularly bad because that's where people increase their speed."
Sgt. Knox said crews are starting to clear roadways, but that is made more difficult when people are on the roads.
It is still snowing in Raleigh, but the band of freezing rain is getting closer. Wilson and Johnston counties are already seeing a changeover to rain. Temperatures will gradually rise into the mid 30a throughout the day, but ice will be a concern as Sunday continues.
Major roads and highways are still covered in snow, signaling that secondary roads are treacherous. The NCDOT has started clearing the roads and is asking motorists to stay home.
Travel plans should be canceled Sunday, especially plans to head north or west. WRAL News has received reports of both tractor trailers and other cars stranded on snow-covered roads.
Wake Forest has seen the highest snowfall totals, now recorded at 5 inches.
More than 150 flights are canceled at RDU.
Snow totals are 3 inches in Raleigh, almost 4 inches in Wake Forest and 3.5 inches in Durham. The snow is falling at a rate of 1.7 inches an hour. Dozens of flights are canceled at RDU and driving conditions are "terrible," according to Drive 5.
On I-40 in Raleigh near Rock Quarry Road, the flakes were already slowing down. Multiple cars, including pick-up trucks and SUVs, were pulled over on the side of the road. 100,000 customers are now without power statewide.
Big changes are coming to the Triangle -- and the snow should change over to rain fairly quickly. However, according to Gardner, "there is plenty of this, and it's going to come in bands."
Freezing rain in the Triangle could accumulate, knocking down trees and causing power outages later in the morning.
Central North Carolina is currently seeing its heaviest snow, with Durham and Chapel Hill seeing even more snow than the Triangle.
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