Wintry storm hits North CarolinaFrom staff and wire reportsASHEBORO - A combination of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain hit the area Saturday, bringing slushy weather conditions as a winter storm warning remained in effect through noon today. The wintry mix, which started hitting the area early Saturday afternoon, immediately brought a rash of traffic accidents, but no serious injuries were reported through Saturday night. The National Weather Service predicted occasional sleet and freezing rain overnight, bringing the possibility of a tenth to a quarter inch coating of ice atop the snow and sleet layer. Temperatures are to climb from the freezing mark to 40 today. Many local churches canceled today's services, while the N.C. Zoo closed early Saturday, at 2 p.m., and will remain closed today due to the weather. Road crews were prepared for the onset of the wintry mix, having had their first experience with the possibility of slick roadways last weekend. Both the City of Asheboro and the N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) are using a new anti-icing method of treating the road surfaces this winter. Motorists may have already noticed stripes, which turn white, appearing on primary highways and major streets - that's the salt brine which the city and state are now applying to the roadways prior to a storm. Both mix their own salt and water solutions and now have the equipment to apply the mixture. "This helps keep it (the winter precipitation) from sticking to the road," said Pete Rich, Asheboro's street superintendent, about the new application. City crews applied the salt brine to major streets, areas around schools and other streets both Friday and again Saturday morning. This helped melt the first round of winter weather Saturday on Asheboro streets. Reuben Blakley, county maintenance engineer for DOT, said that crews worked all day Friday applying the salt brine to four-lane primary highways and some of the two-lane roads. He noted, however, that rain dilutes the mixture which replaces DOT's previous use of another anti-icing treatment, calcium chloride. DOT crews remained on rotating shifts overnight Saturday; the first shift was to return this morning at 7:30, if weather conditions continue to make it necessary. Salt was being reapplied in some slick areas on overpasses Saturday night; the city and state had their snow plows ready to further clear slippery roadways if necessary. Several inches of snow in the mountains and Triad Saturday caused slick roads and numerous minor accidents before changing to sleet and rain further east across North Carolina later in the day. State Highway Patrol offices reported no major accidents in the mountains and Triad. Electric utilities said there were only scattered outages in Asheville as of Saturday evening. Some college events and basketball games were postponed or held earlier Saturday because of the approaching weather system. Snow and sleet accumulations were expected to reach about 2 inches in central North Carolina, but the primary concern was ice accumulation. The Triangle was expected to receive up to a half-inch of ice by Sunday morning, forecasters said. Avery and Mitchell counties got the most snow, with up to 5 inches by afternoon Saturday, said Wayne Jones with the National Weather Service in Greer, S.C. More snow, sleet and freezing rain was forecast overnight, he said. Icy roads were reported throughout western North Carolina, but authorities said none had had been closed. Vikki Kinsland, a Highway Patrol spokeswoman in Asheville, urged caution, but said calls for service were not much higher than normal. "We're not recommending people travel unless they need to," she said. Forecasts called for rain and possibly some snow in eastern parts of the state. Some ice was possible along the west side of the Interstate 95 corridor. Power companies urged customers to check their flashlights and batteries and make sure they have an ample supply of bottled water and nonperishable food items on hand in case of outages that could last several days. "If you have any elderly members of the household or someone with special needs, you should start thinking now about alternative arrangements if you have a power outage," Duke Power spokeswoman Valerie Patterson said. Nancy Thompson, a spokeswoman for Raleigh-based Progress Energy, said extra line repair and tree-cutting crews were arriving in western North Carolina in case there was significant icing. DOT said more than 6,000 employees were on standby and that crews had pretreated bridges, overpasses and parts of major highways west of I-95. (Staff Writer Kathi Keys contributed to this article.)
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