NC Climate: Winter storm warning issued to multiple counties when snow starts to fall

RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) – A winter storm alert was issued to several counties in North Carolina when snow began to fall in the area overnight.

The warning is issued to Granville, Halifax, Person, Vance and Warren counties until 8 am, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS is predicting that these counties can see up to seven to ten centimeters of snow accumulation. Many other counties in the area are under a Winter Storm Warning.

In Roxboro, one of the units in our last-minute news fleet already had a layer of snow around 2:30 am

A car was also stuck at the roadside in Roxboro.

Get the latest weather updates sent directly to your phone by downloading the ABC11 mobile app

On Wednesday, the winter weather report was issued for the northern half of our midnight observation area at 8:00 am on Thursday. The consultancy includes the counties of the Triangle along with the areas to the north, bordering I-85 and I-95.

The accumulations now appear to have 7 to 10 cm of snow along the Virginia border and 5 to 7 cm in the Triangle. The areas south of the Triangle should see less than an inch.

Most of the buildup should be on grassy surfaces, but as this will occur at night, there may be slippery spots in the morning.

“This appears to be similar to our event last February, which fell 3 to 7 centimeters in one night, but did not accumulate much on the roads,” said chief meteorologist Chris Hohmann. “It must be very wet snow, which will look beautiful on the trees, etc. It is not always that we pass the 50s and the sun starts to snow in less than 12 hours;

WATCH: Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry in preparation for possible snow on Thursday morning

Wednesday night’s rain left the North Carolina Transportation Department’s salt and sand trucks on hold due to the possibility that they would leave. Crews must report for service between midnight and 4 am

The NCDOT expects that much of the winter precipitation will melt quickly, but the main concern is high-altitude roads and bridges

The Sandhills region will see less buildup, from bursts to half an inch.

ABC!! Meteorologist Don “Big Weather” Schwenneker said rainfall will leave our region between 5 and 8 am, starting in the southwestern part of the observation area. The sky will be clear in the middle of the morning with the return of the sun. Temperatures will be well below average in the 1940s and chills will be in their thirties most of the day, with a strong gust of wind around 25 MPH.

The winter climate in a pandemic | What to expect this year

Typically, our snow events happen when cold air is already in place and moisture moves into the area.

It happened 21 years ago in one of the biggest snow events that the Triangle has ever seen.

Here is a retrospective of that snow and what meteorologists have learned from it:

Check the latest weather radar

The winter climate in a pandemic | What to expect this year

See the weather in the ABC11 News app.

Check the latest weather radar