Snow blanketed Rowan County and the rest of the Piedmont Sunday night, piling up about 4 inches in most areas.
Rowan-Salisbury, Cabarrus County and Kannapolis City schools are closed, as well as the VA Medical Center clinics here and in Charlotte and Winston-Salem.
Numerous reports of downed trees, some taking power lines with them, came across the police scanner throughout the early morning hours.
Few wrecks have been reported, but a tractor-trailer is blocking exit 81, the Spencer exit on I-85. Other incidents seem to be minor, mostly cars running off the side of the road.
Although the sun is shining, temperatures remain cold, in the mid- to upper 20s, and the wind continues to be a problem.
Snow plows were just beginning to move around 6 a.m. this morning, but secondary roads remain covered in snow, with some ice underneath, due to the heavy rain of the last two days.
Duke Energy reports 10,555 people in Rowan without power, while Cabarrus has 1,084; Davidson, 773; Davie, 2,330; Iredell, 7,594; and Stanly 752.
Dukeís Web site reports 175,720 outages in North and South Carolina, with 23,876 in Greenville and 24,993 in Spartanburg, S.C., the highest totals in the two Carolinas
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has cancelled all day classes cancelled; staff reports at noon.
Catawba College is closed. The cafeteria will continue to operate under normal hours in the Student Center. The college anticipates reopening at 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
All locations of Pfeiffer University are closed.
Rowan County offices are open.
The East Rowan YMCA is closed.
EnergyUnited crews are working to restore outages. Freezing rain and snow caused outages throughout the company’s 19-county territory, with the most hard-hit counties being Davidson, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan and Stokes.
At the peak of the storm overnight, approximately 21,000 members were without power. As of 7 a.m. today, just over 8,200 EnergyUnited customers were without power, with 3,500 of those in Mecklenburg; 1,000 in Davidson; 1,500 in Iredell and the remaining scattered in other counties.
Garbage collection in Kannapolis will be delayed one day this week. Collection will occur beginning tomorrow and run through Saturday.
Because of inclement weather and dangerous road conditions, Cabarrus County offices are closed today. Cabarrus County Transportation Services (CCTS) will operate on a limited schedule. CCTS will offer its door-to-door van service only to those clients requiring life-sustaining medical trips. County emergency operations, including the Sheriffís Office and Emergency Medical Services, will maintain regular schedules.
Cabarrus County offices that are closed today include Cabarrus County Governmental Center, Department of Social Services, Senior Centers, Board of Elections office, Cabarrus County Public Library branches, Cabarrus County Parks, Cabarrus County Solid Waste
Check back on www.salisburypost.com for further details on closings and delays.