Winter Weather AM Update

Here is the latest update from Beaufort County Emergency Services.

There were no major changes with this morning’s update. Beaufort County is expected to receive between 8 and 12-inch of snow over the next 24 hours and remain below freezing through Monday afternoon with windchills of 15 degrees or less.

We encourage everyone to make any last minute preparations, to include trips to the grocery store, hardware store, etc. before noon today as conditions will quickly deteriorate around 3pm, with accumulating snow, blowing snow, snow drifts, and periods of blizzard like or “whiteout conditions” creating treacherous driving conditions. PLEASE AVOID ANY UNNECESSARY DRIVING AFTER 12PM TODAY.

Expected Hazards to Prepare For

We encourage everyone to utilize the remainder of the day to ensure that your family, friends, and neighbors are prepared for the following possible outcomes.

• Dangerous Road Conditions

▪ Snow may begin accumulating on our roadways as early as noon on Saturday. These conditions will quickly deteriorate as we move through the evening hours, with roadways likely remaining dangerous through Wednesday, as temperature struggle to get above freezing.

▪ Please be prepared to shelter in place and avoid unnecessary travel between noon today and noon Tuesday. Doing so will prevent unnecessary vehicle accidents that require the response by our county’s first responders and allow DOT crews time to plow our roadways.

▪ If travel is necessary, please drive with caution, and avoid elevated bridges like our Hwy 17 bypass if possible.

◦ Hazard

◦ Mitigation / Preparations

• Cold Outside Temperatures

▪ We will continue to experience below freezing temperatures through Monday afternoon, with overnight windchills between 0 and 10 degrees for both Saturday and Sunday nights.

▪ Please ensure that outside pets and animals have adequate shelter to protect them from these cold temperatures and falling precipitation.

▪ Avoid being outside if possible and utilize warm layers of clothing to cover exposed skin if you must be outside for extended periods of time.

◦ Hazard

◦ Mitigation / Preparations

• Isolated Power Outages

▪ While widespread, long duration power outages are not expected, isolated outages from high winds, vehicle accidents, etc. are possible.

▪ Ensure that you have a way to stay warm in the event you lose power for several hours. Also make sure you have flashlights, charged electronic devices, etc.

◦ Hazard

◦ Mitigation / Preparations

• Most importantly…..BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR

▪ Checking on elderly / vulnerable neighbors and family members. Especially if your community were to experience an isolated power outage. Ensure they are prepared to shelter in place from Saturday through Tuesday. (Warm clothes, blankets, food, medicine, flashlights, charged cell phone, etc.)

▪ Please avoid unnecessary travel between Saturday and Tuesday, and encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to do the same.

◦ Weather events like this can quickly exceed the abilities of public safety resources and requires a “whole community” approach. BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR by:

Changes to our previous briefings have been highlighted below.

Snowfall Accumulations

• Our area is currently forecasted to receive an average of 8 to 12 inches of snow. However, a band of heavier snow is expected to set up somewhere along Eastern NC, producing locally higher amounts. Unfortunately, we will likely not know where that heavier band will be until it appears on radar. (See the “Reasonable Worse Case” graphic below for possible accumulation totals for areas that are impacted by this developing heavier bands of snow.)

Timing of Impacts

• Snow

▪ Accumulating snow is likely by noon Saturday.

▪ Our heaviest snow is currently forecasted to occur between 3pm Saturday and 3am Sunday morning.

◦ Light snow is currently forecasted to begin around 2am Saturday and continue through noon Sunday.

• High Winds

▪ Our highest winds are expected between 9pm tonight and 9am Sunday.

▪ Blizzard like or “whiteout” conditions are possible today and Sunday as snowfall will be accompanied by high winds.

◦ North and Northwest winds will begin to increase shortly after sunrise Saturday, becoming sustained between 15 and 25 mph, with frequent gusts of 25 to 40 expected through sunset Sunday.

• Temperatures & Windchills

◦ Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing around sunset Friday and remain below freezing through noon on Monday, with windchills between -1 and 10 degrees Saturday and Sunday nights.

Please see the email below and the attached briefing from the National Weather Service (NWS) for additional information.

This will be our final weather briefing for this weekend’s weather. We encourage everyone to monitor local media outlets and county affiliated social media sites for additional updates.