Region Digs Out From Big Storm

MELT REFREEZES: ‘FALSE SECURITY' ON THE ROADS

Snow still covered the ground yesterday, but many roads were clear, allowing activities to start returning to normal after the first snowstorm of the season blew through Winston-Salem and Northwest North Carolina on Friday.

On Friday, sections of U.S. 52 and Business 40 were closed because of the weather. Road crews worked to clear and open them yesterday.

However, spots along the two highways and other area thoroughfares were still slick.

In Surry County, officials had to handle a large number of wrecks caused by drivers speeding up and getting sidetracked by the remaining patches of snow and slush, said John Shelton, the emergency-services director for Surry County.

"I sense a false security with the roads," he said yesterday. "I urge people to slow down and not travel … unless they have to."

Forecasters weren't expecting any more snow to fall in Winston-Salem last night or today but warned that temperatures were likely to drop below freezing by early this morning, resulting in black ice on the roads.

From 4 to 8 inches of snow fell on Forsyth County, with the most accumulation in the west and northwest part of the county, said Brandon Vincent, a meteor-ologist for the National Weather Service in Raleigh.

About 6 inches of snow fell on Winston-Salem, and the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro reported only 3 inches, Vincent said.

The northwestern foothills and mountains got hit harder than the Triad with snowfall totals ranging from 12 to 18 inches, Vincent also said.

More snow was possible overnight in the Western North Carolina mountains and winter storm warnings were expected to remain in place into this morning along the Tennessee border, weather-service officials said.

Duke Energy and Progress Energy reported nearly 84,000 total outages in North and South Carolina as a result of the snowstorm.

Tom Thiel, a spokesman for Duke Energy, said that there were few power outages in Forsyth County on Friday night and that all power was restored by yesterday.

He also said that company officials didn't expect any major problems this morning caused by ice freezing on power lines overnight.

The winter weather did cause several events to be postponed or cancelled, including the annual Operation Christmas Tree giveaway at Joel Coliseum. Unsold Christmas trees are distributed to needy families in Winston-Salem at the event. Organizers weren't sure if the giveaway will occur this year.

And the snow couldn't have come at a worse time for retailers. Yesterday was the last Saturday before Christmas, a time for panicked shoppers to rush to the stores to buy last-minute Christmas gifts.

Many shoppers, however, made their way to Hanes Mall, which saw a steady but not overwhelming stream of shoppers.

Some people had already done a lot of their Christmas shopping and needed to buy only a few more things.

Rachel Carter, who lives in Lewisville, had shopped at six stores within an hour of getting to Hanes Mall yesterday. Carter said she had planned to finish her Christmas shopping Friday but couldn't because of the snow.

She wanted to get home quickly before the temperatures dropped and ice formed on the roads.

Several shoppers at the mall were cutting back on Christmas spending including Amy Elliott and her family.

"We're definitely spending less than we've done in the past," said Elliott, who was shopping with her husband, Bryan Elliott, and their two children, Bryce and Felicia, at Game Stop. "The kids are beginning to figure out that they can't get everything."

Grocery shoppers were back in stores yesterday, despite a mad dash on Friday for bread, milk and eggs at local supermarkets on Peters Creek Parkway.

At the Lowes Food store at Oliver's Crossing shopping center, Amy Allen pushed out several bags of groceries.

"We weren't out of food," she said. "I'm just getting stuff we need for the holidays."

Ronnie Shawyer of Midway got most of his "storm stuff," including soft drinks and potato chips for his children Friday but still needed a few extras.

He said he still had Christmas shopping to do but would put it off a bit longer.

"For the next couple of days, I'm just going to rest," he said.

mhewlett@wsjournal.com
727-7326

fdaniel@wsjournal.com
727-7366

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.