NC weather: freezing rain, ice forecast for parts of central North Carolina Saturday morning

RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) – Thousands of downtown North Carolina are currently without electricity as icy rain moves across the state.

A winter weather warning is in effect until noon Saturday in much of central North Carolina.

The warning extends from Wake, Durham, Orange, Chatham, Nash and Edgecombe counties to northern Virginia.

On Friday afternoon, Persona, Vance and Granville counties were upgraded to a winter storm warning, where an additional 0.25 “of ice is possible. The Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for Triangle counties, the north of Orange and Durham ice, less to the south.

Warnings and notices will be extended until Sunday at noon, although there would be little additional coverage training after Saturday in the early afternoon.

According to Duke Energy, more than 1,000 customers in Chatham County are experiencing power outages.

The original notice was issued Friday morning and included possibilities for Friday and Saturday mornings.

The first round of winter time was felt mainly around the North Carolina-Virginia border. Rain became a small amount of ice buildup on elevated surfaces, such as tree ends and railings.

Download the ABC11 mobile app to receive the latest weather updates directly on your phone

However, a second round of rain came Friday night and temperatures dropped from zero.

Rain is likely to freeze from the Triangle to the border with Virginia.

Only light glaze is expected in most of the Triangle, with perhaps a few bridges or flyovers that develop some ice. Temperatures are only expected to drop to 31 or 32 in RDU, so ice accumulation is quite difficult at these temperatures.

If we leave one or two more degrees, the ice buildup will be greater.

Further north, temperatures will drop to about 29 or 30, and this is the area where up to 0.15 -20.20 “of ice is possible. This amount of ice can cause some electrical outages and roads can be more in the morning, Hohmann said. Normally, 0.25 “is the threshold for more effects of icy rain.

Freezing rain is expected to end on Saturday afternoon.

We have the potential to collect an inch to an inch and a half of rain on Saturday to Sunday morning. We could also wake up with a quiet spot or two on Sunday mornings, especially north of I-85.

The weather team for the first ABC11 alert will work 24 hours a day to monitor any changes in the forecast. You can get these updates in this story, on TV, or in our apps on your connected devices.

SEE: Pandemic winter weather What to expect this year