Weather

The latest: Spin outs and crashes on slick roads around the Triangle

With temperatures expected to stay below freezing through Friday morning, the winter weather advisory for the Triangle, including Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties, was extended to noon.

Posted Updated

By
WRAL staff
RALEIGH, N.C.

What you need to know:

The latest:

10:15 a.m.: Families are sledding and building snowmen at Dorothea Dix Park. Don't miss WRAL's Bryan Mims sledding down a steep hill, hitting a bump and going airborne on live TV.
10:00 a.m.: The winter weather advisory has been canceled.
9:25 a.m.: The smoke behind the trees on the opposite side of I-540 near U.S. 1 turned out to be a van that had caught fire on a ramp. Fire fighters managed to put the fire out quickly, but the van sustained serious fire damage. Officials said the van previously spun out and was on the side of the road. When someone came to tow it, the van somehow caught fire and completely burned up. The occupants of the van were already out and not injured.
9:00 a.m.: A plume of black smoke could be seen over the trees while WRAL reporter Adam Owens covered the accidents on I-540 near Triangle Town Center.
8:45 a.m. Around 6,000 people in Wake County still without power.
8:35 a.m.: A truck has slid off the road on I-540 and into a ditch near Triangle Town Center. The ramp from Capital Blvd. onto I-540 W is a sheet of ice and has been completely shut down. "Officials said it's entirely too unsafe for vehicles to travel down," said WRAL reporter Adam Owens. "It is all ice," he said.
8:15 a.m.: "There have been so many accidents they had to shut down a bridge in Princeton, NC. "The accidents have been very severe," said WRAL reporter Kasey Cunningham.
8:09 a.m.: Officials are working to tow the truck that went over the guardrail on U.S. Highway 70 and Cheek Road. "This is our second crash we've been to over here," said WRAL reporter Nia Harden.
7:40 a.m.: The road surface on U.S. Highway 70 in Durham registered 21 degrees just before 8 a.m.

"We're seeing nothing but ice right now," said Harden.

A truck went over the guardrail on U.S. Highway 70. It cut through the trees and went down a steep embankment.

7:30 a.m.: In Chapel Hill, weather damage was compounded when an alleged drunk driver ran past a barricade and into a downed tree. The tree had been brought down by heavy snow and blocked Raleigh Road near N.C. Highway 54. It knocked down some power lines in the areas as well.
7:20 a.m.: The sun is up but it will take a couple more hours for it to warm the Triangle back above freezing, according to WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner.

"It won't be long before we start to see things improving" on the roads, Gardner said.

7 a.m.: Sgt. Christopher Knox said that trouble spots were widespread on roads across the Triangle. "The danger is very present," he said.

Knox suggested that those who must drive allow extra time and take it slow.

"When a road is not covered, people tend to increase their speed," he said. Crashes that happen at higher speeds have the potential for more damage to people and property, he noted.

6:35 a.m.: A State Capitol police officer on her way to work spun out and crashed her vehicle on eastbound Wade Avenue in east Raleigh. After she called for help, she got out of her vehicle and was hit by another out-of-control car, authorities said. The officer suffered a broken leg.

Wade Avenue was back open just before 7 a.m.

6:05 a.m.: Several vehicles spun out on the Wade Avenue bridge over Edwards Road. Traffic was blocked from about PNC Arena back to the west.
6 a.m.: Interstate 87 at Knightdale Boulevard was closed due to a wreck and was expected to remain blocked until 8 a.m.
5:30 a.m.: Eastbound lanes of Wade Avenue between Edwards Mill Road and Interstate 40 are closed. The bridge there is icy and several crashes were reported.

In Cary, U.S. Highway 1 was closed at U.S. 64 (Tryon Road).

5:25 a.m.: Traffic flow sensors show heavy delays building on Interstate 87 southbound from Knightdale to Raleigh. Drivers are averaging just 25 mph in that area.
5:10 a.m.: A sinkhole had formed on Aycock Street in Goldsboro.
5 a.m.: A vehicle slid off U.S. Highway 1 near Tryon Road. U.S. and N.C. Highways were partially covered with snow, ice or water, according to the DOT.

In Chapel Hill, traffic was blocked from the area around Fordham Boulevard and N.C. 54. There were several accidents in the area before dawn, an Orange County spokeswoman said. Power was out and was not expected to be restored before 9 a.m.

4:40 a.m.: Thousands of customers statewide, including 1,800 in Wake County, were still without power. Heavy snow downed trees which pulled down power lines in several locations.
Those who live on Grinnell Drive in Raleigh awoke to the sound of chainsaws on Feb. 21, 2020.
4:30 a.m.: Major roads are wet with some slush. WRAL's Brian Shrader is looking at live traffic cameras and reports from the Departments of Transportation.

Interstates are clear, but secondary roads, especially in more rural areas, are partially covered with snow and ice. In downtown Clayton, snow completely blanketed the road.

4:15 a.m.: "The winter weather advisory is in effect through about noon, because that is about the time that temperatures will climb back past the freezing mark," WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said.
3:55 a.m.: West Cornwallis Road in Durham is closed at Welcome Drive due to downed power lines. In Raleigh, a tree was down blocking Grinell Drive.
West Cornwallis Road in Durham was closed Friday morning due to downed power lines.
3:45 a.m.: Raleigh got an official 2.5 inches of snow, WRAL meteorologist Zach Maloch said. The greatest total was measured at Youngsville, where 4 inches piled up. Franklinton got 3.8 inches, Roxboro got 3.3, Wendell 3.1, Henderson 2.8 and Garner 2.8.
Raleigh got 2.5 inches of snow and Durham 2 in a snowfall Feb. 20 and 21, 2020
3:30 a.m.: With temperatures expected to stay below freezing through Friday morning, the winter weather advisory for the Triangle, including Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties, was extended to noon. WInter storm warnings for counties to the east were lifted around 3:30 a.m.
3 a.m.: Temperatures fell through the wee hours of Friday and will bottom out during the peak of the morning commute, WRAL meterologist Zach Maloch said. By 3 a.m., it was 33 degrees in Raleigh, but that will dip into the mid-20s by 7 a.m.

Chilly temperatures will be accompanied by some breezy conditions early Friday morning which will make it feel even colder, Maloch said.

"The snow pack across the area is keeping our conditions and forecast pretty solid across central North Carolina, without a lot of variance from north to south or west to east," he said.

While no precipitation is in the forecast for Friday, roads were wet – and in some places slick – from the snow that fell Thursday.

"We're watching these temperatures as people prepare to hit the roads this morning," Maloch said.

By afternoon, the breeze will die down and some sun returns, but it won't warm up by much. Friday's high is only about 40 degrees.

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