RALEIGH, N.C. — The winter storm arriving in North Carolina overnight is expected to bring a combination of snow, ice and wind that will lead to “nearly impossible” travel conditions on Sunday and power outages that could affect hundreds of thousands of people, forecasters and state officials warned on Saturday.
More than 30 flights arriving and departing from Raleigh-Durham International Airport had been canceled as of Saturday afternoon.
In an email, an RDU spokesperson said the airport cannot predict delays or cancellations as a result of tomorrow’s inclement weather, but said all passengers should call their airline before going to the airport.
Ahead of the storm, officials said they planned to keep the airport open, writing on the airport’s website that “RDU typically does not close during winter weather – even if there are significant impacts to flight operations.”
Airport employees have been mobilized to keep the airport running throughout the storm, according to the website. That includes clearing runways, taxiways, roads and sidewalks, and coordinating with the National Weather Service to receive the latest forecast.
North Carolina Transportation Secretary Eric Boyette said crews are prepared to plow and de-ice roads, and remove downed trees and debris in anticipation of snow and ice accumulation on Sunday.
More than 1,200 transportation department employees have been pre-treating roads across the state since Thursday, Boyette said.
Boyette said nearly 2.5 million gallons of brine have been spread on roads, and that the transportation department has more than 160,000 tons of salt on hand and more than 400 trucks ready to be deployed on Sunday.
“We are doing our part, but we need everyone else to do their part too,” Boyette said. “Once the storm hits later today and tonight, please stay home.”
If you must travel tomorrow, the National Weather Service advises keeping an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle to stay safe in case of an emergency.
Gov. Roy Cooper said on Saturday he had activated 200 members of the North Carolina National Guard who will be deployed in the western and central parts of the state, which are expected to see the most snow fall and ice accumulation, to assist with storm response on Sunday.
The National Guardsmen will be equipped with emergency response vehicles like Humvees and four-wheel-drive ambulances that can move through the snow, Cooper said, and some National Guard and state Department of Transportation teams will be staged at “trouble spots” on interstates.
Cooper announced the deployment at a news conference with other state officials at the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh to discuss storm preparedness efforts.
As many as 750,000 customers in North and South Carolina could lose power tomorrow, and outages in some of the hardest-hit parts of the Carolinas could last several days, Duke Energy warned on Saturday.
Ahead of the storm, more than 10,000 workers including power line technicians, damage assessors and vegetation workers have been dispatched across both states, the company said in a news release. Nearly 4,100 of those workers are from companies based out-of-state, including Texas and Oklahoma.
But dangerous road conditions could delay crews from reaching hard-hit areas, Duke Energy said, delaying power restoration.
In addition to ice buildup on trees and branches, the weight of ice forming directly on power lines can cause them to fall or sag as well, Duke Energy said. Heavy, wet snow can also down power lines, the company warned.
The winter storm warning covers a large part of central North Carolina that mostly lies west of U.S. 1, including Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, extending to Greensboro and Winston-Salem.
The worst impacts of the storm are expected to be felt in the western part of the state, particularly the North Carolina foothills that lie north and northwest of Charlotte, which could see between six inches to a foot of snow.
The area in and around of Charlotte is expected to experience seven to eight hours of freezing rain, a National Weather Service meteorologist told The Charlotte Observer.
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