(The Center Square) – Interstate 85 reopened late Saturday night after more than five hours with 100-plus vehicles stranded, and 15 inches of snow fell at the beach in one of North Carolina’s most significant winter storms in a decade or more.
No deaths were reported on the highways by the North Carolina Highway Patrol among 750 collisions and 817 calls for service between 12:01 a.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday. That included the northbound lanes of I-85 in Cabarrus County between mile markers 60 and 63, where a small crash near Exit 60 for Dale Earnhardt Boulevard grew to snarl more than 30 tractor-trailers and 70 other vehicles and brought out the National Guard, according to published reports.
Power outages, however, were not as significant as feared. Many were associated with last weekend’s ice. Sunday morning, total customers without power was the most of the weekend and remained less than 5,000.
The second winter storm in as many weeks staggering the Atlantic Seaboard brought more snow than ice and freezing rain this time. Sunday morning about 6:30, the National Weather Service at Newport and Morehead City in Carteret County on the Crystal Coast measured 15 inches of snow. The measure was taken from a wooded area at the office shielded from blowing drifts; the office said drifts were more than 2 feet in its parking lot.
Temperatures in the Coastal Plains were near 20 with a windchill of about 1 degree in many places. The forecast was to turn to sunshine Sunday in the afternoon with precipitation done, a high of 32 expected about 4 p.m., and severe cold continuing.
Temperatures over much of the state are not expected to clear 40 before Tuesday, and then by not much.
A low-pressure system parallel and making its way up the Atlantic Seaboard brought heavier snow to the eastern part of the state Saturday. Bands spinning off the low pressure dictated accumulation amounts.
Snowfall totals along the approximately 320 miles of ocean shoreline included more than 5 at Hampstead and Ocean Isle Beach; 3-6 inches at Surf City; and 4-5 inches at Wilmington on the southern end, according to published reports. At the Outer Banks, reports of 8-12 inches were in the Kitty Hawk, Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills area, and 4-6 on both Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.
Rocky Mount and Princeville in the heart of the Coastal Plains had reports of 7-10 inches. Harrisburg, Mooresville and the Charlotte area were in the 8-12 inches range. In the mountains, published reports included 6 inches at Asheville and 10 inches at Sunburst in Haywood County.
A number of social media posts across the state by individuals showed rules measuring in the range of 16 inches.
Jim Cantore, the heralded veteran meteorologist and fellow of the American Meteorological Society often reporting from the ground zero of storms, was in Duck at the Outer Banks. His report Sunday morning said the Arctic air anchoring into America “for the better part of last month is going to be lifting out. Our anomalously deep ridge/trough will finally break. We will still get a couple clippers and cool with them, but the relentless Arctic should subside.”
Cantore also said, “Temperatures won’t dip like they have and frozen areas in the South will get to thaw over the next 10 days between clippers.”
There was a point Saturday when temperatures were colder in Florida (high teens, low 20s) than in southeastern Alaska (33 to 41 degrees). Snow was reported in multiple Florida locations Saturday.
Costs for taxpayers associated with the two weekends of storms will be significant, although some of the expense has been built into the state budget. While there is no state budget that was due July 1, North Carolina law dictates that the most previous spending plan be utilized.
Taxpayers through General Assembly appropriations supply about $60 million annually for winter storms to be handled by the state Department of Transportation. The cost of brine treatments on roads is about $6 per mile; salt is $15 per mile.
An emergency has been declared by first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein on the state level and second-term Republican President Donald Trump on the federal level.
The declaration by Trump unlocks federal taxpayer dollars for things like deployment of additional generators to hospitals and shelters; emergency food, water and fuel; and support from the U.S. Forest Service to remove downed trees as needed. Stein’s declaration sets up proactive response by the National Guard, lawmen, and search and rescue teams; enables protective measures and consumer protection; enables authorities to implement curfews or area access restrictions; and enables government entities to seek state funding for recovery efforts.
The state price gouging law also remains in effect, said first-term Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson. It is automatic with Stein’s declaration.
Taxpayers’ protection by the price gouging law includes no excessive charges during a crisis, such as inflated costs for a generator or other everyday goods and services. Prices can be adjusted for impact of critical events on their operations, but not to boost profits.
