Here We Go Again; More Snow on the Way

Posted 11:00 a.m. Jan 18, 2000 — Updated 11:00 a.m. Jan 18, 2000

RALEIGH — A fast-moving storm could bring several inches of wet snow to many portions of the TV5 viewing area early Thursday, but so far no major school systems have closed.

The snow is expected to start around 12 a.m. and fall heavy and hard, with the precipitation ending around 7 a.m.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for part of the Triangle area, with Winter Storm Warnings to the west through Thursday morning.

The heaviest snows are expected to the north and west, with Orange and Durham counties seeing the heaviest accumulation in the Triangle, possibly up to 4 inches.

Officials are asking for help in keeping the roads safe Thursday.

The state Highway Patrol communication center normally receives about 1,300 calls a day. Tuesday, operators answered about 2,400 calls.

The lines are supposed to be for wrecked cars, but instead people are calling about road conditions, jamming the lines and making it more difficult for the people who need help to get it.

"We run into the situation with people having a little bit of cabin fever and wanting to know road condition reports, and they're calling our emergency lines for that and that causes tremendous problems," said Sgt. Jeff Winstead. The Highway Patrol asks that people call these numbers for road conditions:

Raleigh News & Observer's Cityline:(929) 549-5100code 7623

Hendersonville Times-News Info Phone:(828) 696-4400code 1100

The DOT is also getting ready. Road crews used about 500 tons of salt on Tuesday's storm and asked Virginia for 500 tons to replace it. The trucks from Virginia started arriving around 9:30 p.m., while DOT drivers took a break.

"I sent everybody home about 4:30, told them to go get some supper and take a nap and be back at 12," said maintenance engineer Jerry Linder. andJulie Moos

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