NORFOLK, Va. — A layer of ice and a blanket of snow covered coastal areas stretching from South Carolina to Virginia on Saturday after a winter weather system brought colder temperatures and precipitation not often seen in the region.
Authorities urged drivers to stay off the roads and highways, which forecasters said are slick and snow-packed in the storm’s aftermath. They also warned of black ice, particularly late Saturday and early Sunday as any snow melting on roads refroze.
“People should not attempt to drive in these conditions,” North Carolina Transportation Secretary Eric Boyette said.
Temperatures were frigid across several Southeast states. Meteorologists said they likely won’t rise above the 30s in Virginia and much of North Carolina during the day and will drop into the 20s and even teens in some places on Saturday night.
By about 7 a.m. Saturday, the storm had mostly blown off the Atlantic Coast, leaving as much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, meteorologists said.
Further south, there was ice in parts of coastal North Carolina. Ice stretched along much of the South Carolina coast as well, although in much smaller amounts.
“There was basically a glaze reported as far south as Charleston,” said Carl Morgan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington. “We’re talking less than a 10th of an inch of freezing rain.”
The snowfall in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina mirrored the forecast of 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters), said Mike Montefusco, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wakefield, Virginia. He said Saturday’s cold temperatures would keep the snow from melting at least until Sunday, when temperatures were expected to reach the 40s.