Winter Arrives With Icy Blast
Icicles decorate the Rowan County landscape just in time for Christmas

BY JOHN PATTERSON
SALISBURY POST

A lot of Rowan County residents were still dreaming this morning after getting their first taste of winter weather Wednesday.

Instead of the flaky white stuff, most of Rowan got the crackly clear stuff - ice - that can make the holidays more scary than merry.

But the freezing rain - along with the occasional sleet pellet - that hit the area Wednesday caused few problems in Rowan. Roads were generally clear of ice, with the exception of bridges and overpasses that glazed over as temperatures dropped overnight.

Probably the most widespread damage attributable to the frozen precipitation was power outages. Duke Power officials this morning reported that 4,700 customers in the Salisbury area were without power.

"As most people can see, the ice is pretty bad on the trees and power lines," said Patricia Rickard, a spokeswoman for Duke Power. "The good news is that we didn't have a lot of wind ... that tends to cause more outages. With the forecast we've got, the number of outages could continue to go up through the day (Wednesday)."

Though Duke Power officials could not say specifically where the outages occurred in Rowan, officials at the Rowan County Sheriff's Department said a number of residents in Rockwell and Gold Hill were without power this morning.

"We had several trees heavy with ice that fell and knocked down power lines," a lieutenant at the department said this morning. "The outages hit a stretch of people from Rockwell toward Gold Hill."

Duke Power officials urge anyone with a power outage to call the company's automated outage reporting system at 1-800-POWERON (1-800-769-3766).

Meanwhile, reports of accidents on county roads were normal. A dispatcher working this morning at the N.C. Highway Patrol's office on U.S. 29 said traffic "was routine" Wednesday.

While most of the precipitation falling this morning was in the liquid state, forecasters at the National Weather Service's office in Greenville, S.C., said a winter storm warning would remain in effect through this afternoon.

"With temperatures holding in the low to mid 30s, there is a possibility some of the rain could freeze," said forecaster Harry Gerapetritis. "We haven't seen a lot of ice on the roadways, but the power lines and trees have really picked up the ice in a lot of areas. The blacktop (roads) have really been too warm to accumulate ice. The only problem we've seen are the elevated areas, the bridges and overpasses."

Gerapetritis said forecasters believe the area will get a break in the wintry weather sometime this afternoon, but conditions tonight could worsen again.

"We expect temperatures to drop into the upper 20s tonight," Gerapetritis said. "Any precipitation that falls tonight could definitely be frozen. We're expecting it to be in the form of freezing rain, much like what the area saw yesterday (Wednesday). You'll probably see gray skies into Christmas day, but the precipitation will start to taper off tomorrow (Friday)."

Darrell Blackwelder, an agent with the county's cooperative extension service, said a lot of people aren't sure of the best way to care for their plants in such icy conditions. Ice, Blackwelder said, actually protects plants.

"The damage to buds and blooms will be minimal," Blackwelder said. "It's the stress from the weight (of the ice) that is the problem."

Blackwelder offered the following tips for those trying to take care of plants in wintry conditions:

nIf your shrubs fell during this storm, you can stake them after they dry out in order to retain their shape. "If this happens again, with warning, you can tie some plants together so they won't fall apart. That's especially good with boxwoods."

- People who put out salt should be very careful around plants. Substitute sand or even fertilizer, although fertilizer can burn, too.

- Don't be afraid to cut back when it thaws. Don't leave tears on trees and shrubs. Cut limbs against the tree, leaving a collar about an eighth of an inch, which helps the tree heal. "Pruning paint will not help. If there's enough damage, cut down the tree or wait it out and see what happens. Some come back.

- Evergreens are the hardest hit with ice. The worst is long leaf and slash pines. "Trees like eastern hemlock and cedars you should try to straighten up or they'll stay permanently bent."

Above all, Blackwelder said, "Don't panic. I've seen leyland cypress bent over and they come back good as new. And the good thing is we haven't had that much rain (over time), the ground is not that soft, so maybe we won't lose too many trees from being uprooted."

In mountain counties, as much as a quarter inch of ice had built up on trees and structures. Roads became skating rinks.

Late Wednesday night, the state Highway Patrol was reporting dozens of accidents along major highways stretching from the Raleigh-Durham area west.

A nine-car pileup was reported on the U.S. 74 bridge that goes west over Interstate 85 in Kings Mountain. No one was seriously hurt.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department reported more than 200 wrecks between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

In Burke and Catawba counties, sheriff's deputies parked their newest patrol cars and put their older ones on the road.

"You tear up a new car, you're out a new car," Burke County Sheriff's Sgt. Ed Norman said. "Tear up an old car, and you're not out as much."

The news was no better for travelers who planned to travel by plane.

At Charlotte Douglas International Airport, about 110 flights were canceled Wednesday be cause of freezing rain, said Jerry Orr, the airport's aviation director.

"We've had a terrible, terrible day," Orr said. "Lots of people are staying over tonight (Wednesday). We're running out of parking spaces in our parking lot."

Flight delays and cancellations at Raleigh-Durham International Airport caused should make the crush of seasonal travelers greater than expected Thursday and Friday, said airport spokesman Mike Blanton.

"We're hoping the weather doesn't get any worse and that temperatures stay at or above freezing," Blanton said.

AAA Carolinas predicts 1.6 million motorists will hit the roads in North Carolina and South Carolina, taking advantage of the three-day holiday weekend and gasoline prices as low as 80 cents a gallon.

"It's going to be a hugely traveled Christmas because Christmas falls on a Friday this year," said AAA spokeswoman Kristy Tolley.

Weather forecasters said the state could expect the wintry weather to persist into Thursday and Friday as another storm system took aim on North Carolina.

"It's just a nasty mess, not good for travelers at all," said National Weather Service meteorologist Phil Badgett.

The icy mix had also left some homes and businesses in the state without power.

Carolina Power & Light Co. reported about 25,000 customers had lost electricity by 7 p.m. Many were in Wake County, with major outages also reported in the Sandhills and in Henderson, CP&L spokesman Mike Hughes said.

Tree limbs weighed down with ice snapped onto power lines, felling them, Hughes said.

As many as 18,000 Duke Power customers in North Carolina and South Carolina were without power during the day Wednesday, but only about 7,000 remained without power by nightfall, said Greg Clark, a Duke Power spokesman.

An ice storm warning remained in effect for the northern mountains, foothills and the northern half of the Piedmont today.

A winter weather advisory was in place for most other areas west of Interstate 95.