Frozen precipitation is falling around southeastern North Carolina. By 4:30 AM Tuesday, drivers could already see a thin film of snow on the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.
The good news is that the warm temperatures from a couple of days ago will cause most of the snow, sleet, and freezing rain to melt when it hits the ground. But this is an all-day event – with just about every possible type of frozen precipitation.
That’s according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Joshua Weiss.
"This morning will be tricky because the roads themselves – the main roads – will just be wet. But like you said, the bridges and some of the secondary roads may not be treated or traveled as much and may get a little bit slick this morning. And especially this evening – it could be worse as we’ve had all day for this snow and this freezing rain to fall onto those surfaces."
In the early morning, Weiss said the area was seeing "snow grain and sleet activity". As the day goes on, solid pellets of snow will transition to sleet and freezing rain.
"Even 1/100th of an inch of freezing rain can cause very difficult travel. So even if the roads look wet later today as the temperatures stay cold and it does transition to that freezing rain, that’s when we’re looking to have the most significant roadway impacts and travel impacts."
This is not just a situation in the Cape Fear region, says Weiss. The system covers most of eastern North and South Carolina from as far south as Charleston – west to Raleigh – and north to the Outer Banks.
The bottom line, says Weiss: if you don’t absolutely HAVE to travel today, stay inside.
