NC Weather: Winter storm warning issued for several counties when snow starts to fall

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

The warning is for Granville, Halifax, Person, Vance and Warren counties until 8 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. The NWS predicts that these counties can see up to eight to ten inches of snow. Many other counties in the area are covered by a Winter Storm Advisory.

In Roxboro, one of the units in our breaking news fleet had a layer of snow as early as 2.30am

Also in Roxboro a car was stuck on the side of the road.

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On Wednesday, from midnight to 8 a.m. on Thursday, the Winter Weather Advice was issued for the northern half of our viewing area. The advisory covers the Triangle counties along with the areas to the north adjacent to I-85 and I-95.

Accumulations now appear to be 3 to 4 inches of snow along the Virginia border and 2 to 3 inches in the triangle. Areas south of the triangle should show less than an inch.

Most of the build-up should be grassy surfaces, but since this will happen at night, there may be slippery patches in the morning.

“This seems similar to our event last February, which dropped 1 to 8 inches one night but didn’t accumulate much on the roads,” said Chief Meteorologist Chris Hohmann. “Must be a very wet snow that will be nice for the trees, etc. It’s not very often that we go from the 50’s and from sunshine to snow in less than 12 hours; should be interesting.”

WATCH: Director of Emergency Management Mike Sprayberry on preparations for possible snow Thursday morning

Due to rain on Wednesday night, the North Carolina Department of Transportation salt and sand trucks are on standby due to the possibility of it being washed away. The crews are expected to report between midnight and 4 a.m.

The NCDOT expects much of winter precipitation to melt quickly, but the main concern is higher elevation roads and bridges

The Sandhills region will see less accumulation, from gusts to half an inch.

ABC!! Meteorologist Don “Big Weather” Schwenneker said precipitation will pull out of our region between 5am and 8am, starting in the southwestern portion of the viewing area. The sky disappears in the middle of the morning with the return of the sun. The temperatures will remain well below the average in the 40s and the chills will be in the 30s for most of the day with a brisk wind gust around 25 MPH.

Winter weather in a pandemic | What to expect this year

Most of the time, our snow events happen when cold air is already present and moisture is entering the area.

That happened 21 years ago during one of the biggest snow events the Triangle has ever seen.

Here’s a look back at that snow and what forecasters learned from it:

Check out the latest weather radar

Winter weather in a pandemic | What to expect this year

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