Deadly winter storm barrels into the Carolinas, bringing icy roads

A rare southeastern winter storm swept across the Carolinas early Wednesday, threatening as much as six inches of snow in coastal communities as the cold air left the Gulf Coast and other parts of the region, preparing for icy, dangerous roads.

The deadly storm, which has killed at least 10 people, was driven by a swirling mass of cold air originating from the Arctic. It is expected to leave most of the South in the low teens or single digits overnight Wednesday.

In North Carolina, Governor Josh Stein warned residents in the eastern part of the state to avoid all road travel because they were “the most dangerous place to be in a winter storm like this.”

In Charleston, SC, at least 15 snowplows were preparing to snake through the streets and clear them.

And along the Georgia-Florida border, the possibility of ice accumulation — as much as a quarter inch — further threatened road conditions.

“Along the Gulf Coast and the Southeast, it’s pretty cold for what’s considered normal,” said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. And the intense snowfall, he added, could refreeze and make the roads dangerous.

In Louisiana, authorities on Wednesday closed a 100-mile stretch of Interstate 10 spanning nearly half the state as a powerful winter storm brought record snowfall to the Gulf Coast and triggered the state’s first-ever blizzard warning.

The announcement shortly after midnight meant 200 miles of highway in Louisiana were closed due to deteriorating conditions. Authorities had previously closed a 50-mile stretch between Baton Rouge and Lafayette and another 50 miles in and around New Orleans since early Tuesday.

Most of the still images Posted by the Louisiana Department of Transportation from cameras along Interstate 10 around 2 local time showed deserted, snow-covered stretches of highway.

Late Tuesday, the Florida Department of Transportation also closed a 65-mile stretch of Interstate 10 in the western Panhandle, citing “hazardous winter weather conditions.” It’s rare for the Florida portion of the highway — it stretches all the way to Los Angeles — to close outside of the natural disasters the state is more used to dealing with: hurricanes.

Cities and towns from Houston to New Orleans were blanketed this week in snowfall not seen in decades. At least two people died from exposure in Austin, and one in Atlanta. Five people died in a car crash on an icy road in Zavala County, Texas.

The heavy snowfall also broke records in some parts. Mobile, Ala., a coastal city, received more than six inches of snow Tuesday afternoon, breaking a record set in 1895. Just across the border, Florida also had a taste for snowfall, with potential local and state records broken as more than eight inches were recorded in the far western panhandle in areas including Milton and Oriole Beach. Meanwhile, Chalmette, La., just east of New Orleans, had recorded 11.5 inches of snow Tuesday night.

Victoria Oliva, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Wilmington, NC, said travel conditions would remain hazardous across eastern North Carolina through at least late Wednesday night, when temperatures were still expected to hover in the teens.

The last time Wilmington had more than four inches of snow was in 2000, Oliva said, and the last time it got more than six inches was in 1989.

“So this is definitely a rare event for us,” she said.

The reality of so much snow in a coastal town that typically enjoys sunny beach days was not exactly welcome news. The city of Wilmington posted on its Facebook page: “Spring is 58 days away. Just sharing for no particular reason at all.”

In eastern South Carolina, a winter storm warning was in effect until noon Wednesday. Charleston, the beach city that has drawn thousands of new residents in recent years to its regal streets and pristine beaches, was expected to endure cold chills Wednesday night.

Forecasters were concerned that the accumulated snow in the region could refreeze and cause dangerous road conditions through Thursday morning, said Peter Mohlin, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Charleston.

After the storm courses through the Carolinas Wednesday afternoon, it is expected to dissipate.