County hunkers down for frigid winter storm
Friday, January 6, 2017
Frigid temperatures are guaranteed and a blanket of snowfall is
likely for Lancaster County this weekend as a blustery storm swings up
the East Coast.A winter-storm warning is in effect for the county from late tonight through Saturday afternoon. The National Weather Service in Columbia upgraded its watch to a warning Thursday afternoon.
The snow forecast has changed several times the past couple of days. The latest estimate puts most of the county in the 2- to 5-inch zone. But everyone agrees about the frigid temperatures ahead.
“On Monday, we will have dangerously cold weather,” said Darren Player, the county’s emergency management director.
“Lancaster County will experience some of the most frigid weather we’ve seen in several years, with possible wind chills of zero to below zero on Monday morning.”
Frostbite is a real danger, Player said.
The weather service is forecasting a low of 8 degrees Sunday night. The forecast highs for Saturday, Sunday and Monday will barely hit the freezing mark.
S.C. Department of Transportation trucks were out early Thursday spraying brine on primary roads including S.C. 9, S.C. 9 Bypass, S.C. 200 and U.S. 521. Crews in each of the state’s 46 counties began preparing snow- and ice-removal equipment Wednesday morning.
“We will be treating all primary routes today,” said John McKay, SCDOT resident maintenance engineer.
DOT crews will be working 24-hour shifts beginning today and will continue pretreating roads until plowing operations become necessary.
Lancaster County will assist DOT first on main thoroughfares and then secondary roads. Public Works Director Jeff Catoe said all equipment will be ready by this morning.
“We are inventorying our blades, salt and equipment and will have everything in place by Friday morning,” Catoe said.
Duke Energy said it does not expect power outages to be a problem during the storm.The Lancaster Warming Center located at 1242 Trestle Lane will be open 24 hours through Monday morning beginning tonight at 6 p.m.
The regular hours of 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. will resume Monday, according to Melanie Outlaw, chair of the Lancaster Area Coalition for the Homeless.
“We operate with volunteers who have other jobs, and we don’t have staffing past Sunday night,” Outlaw said.
The Lancaster County School District postponed all after-school activities planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to Bryan Vaughn, district safety director.
“We’re monitoring the forecasts for the next few days, and postponing activities just makes sense,” Vaughn said. “We always make these decisions based on keeping students and staff safe.”
The storm will begin with rain tonight, changing to snow mixed with freezing rain and sleet through midday Saturday. The snow will taper off to light freezing drizzle Saturday afternoon.
The National Weather Service is forecasting 2 to 5 inches of snow here, along with a tenth of an inch of ice. Temperatures will drop below freezing this evening and to the upper 20s by Saturday morning. Visibility could be less than a mile early Saturday.
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| At Walmart 9 pm Jan 5 |
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| Walmart Bread section at 9 pm Jan 5 |
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| Duke
Energy’s meteorologists issued this snowfall prediction Thursday
afternoon. According to their estimates, the northern part of Lancaster
County may get up to 4 inches of snow, shown in dark blue, and the
southern half up to 3 inches. |
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