A winter storm brought more snow to North Carolina Tuesday night, with areas west of Boone expected to receive 3 to 7 inches of snow by Wednesday morning.
Snow is expected to keep falling on the western slopes of the mountains in Northwest North Carolina through Thursday, where accumulations of 8 to 12 inches are likely, said Phil Manuel, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va.
The weather service issued a winter-storm warning for that region until 6 p.m. Thursday.
A low-pressure system over the border of North Carolina and Virginia combined with cold air already in place to bring on the snowfall, Manuel said.
Forsyth and Guilford counties were expected to get about 2 inches of snow by Wednesday morning, forecasters said.
Areas east of the Triad such as Danville, Va.; Yanceyville; and Rocky Mount could receive 4 to 5 inches of snow.
Snow began falling in Winston-Salem just before 5 p.m. Tuesday.
By nightfall, a thin layer of snow had blanketed the ground, much to the delight of Tinamarie Baczynski of Winston-Salem, who was watching her son, Chandler, ramble around the yard of their house in the Ardmore neighborhood.
"He loves playing in the snow," Baczynski said. "I like watching the snow from inside my house while I am sitting by the fire. We are from Texas, and it's way too cold for me here."
Casey Otis also was outside his Ardmore house, playing in the snow with his two golden retrievers, Winston and Wrigley.
"My dogs like the snow," Otis said. "They are not sure what to make of it, but they enjoy it,"
In the Triad, any snow that remains on the ground Wednesday morning is unlikely to stick around all day since high temperatures are expected be in the low 30s. Highs in the mountains are expected to stay in the lower 20s.
"(Wednesday night) is really when the bottom will drop out of things," Manuel said.
Temperatures Wednesday night are expected to plunge into the single digits in the mountains and the upper teens in the Triad.
Strong winds however, are expected to drop wind chill as low as minus-10 degrees in the mountains and single digits in the Piedmont, he said.
High temperatures Thursday will range from the 20s in the mountains to the mid-30s in the Triad.
Public-school officials throughout most of the region had a decision to make about whether to cancel or delay classes for Tuesday.
Watauga County schools will be closed Wednesday, the system's Web site said.
The Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools will also be closed Wednesday, superintendent Don Martin said.
"We've got ice on the roads now," Martin said late Tuesday night. "It won't be any better in the morning."
Schools in Ashe, Alleghany and Watauga counties were closed Tuesday because of snowy and icy roads.
School systems in Forsyth, Davidson, Lexington, Stokes, Surry and Thomasville operated on a two-hour delay Tuesday.
The weather also forced the rescheduling of several high- school basketball games and wrestling matches scheduled for Tuesday night in Forsyth and Guilford counties.
Road crews in Winston-Salem began putting down salt on the city's major roads and streets such as Robinhood and New Walkertown roads about 7 Tuesday night, said Roger Caudell, a dispatcher and employee in the city's streets division. The crews will put down more salt on the roads' icy spots Wednesday morning.
State transportation crews pre-treated bridges and major roads Tuesday across North Carolina. Once the snow accumulates, they use salt and sand to treat the roads.
■ John Hinton can be reached at 727-7299 or at jhinton@wsjournal.com.
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