Snow blog: Accidents, snow totals, closings

The Citizen Times will be updating this story throughout the day. Want to help? Shoot us an email at news@citizen-times.com or tweet at us (@asheville) to let us know what conditions are like near you. If you send a photo, please include your name and location.

13,000 without power in WNC

More than 13,000 customers are without power across the mountains following Friday's heavy snow.

That's according to Duke Energy Progress outage information for 15 counties from Cherokee County in the far west to Cleveland County in the east.

The biggest number of outages were concentrated in Henderson County where about 5,000 people were without power shortly after 7 p.m., according to the company's online outage map. It could take as late as 1 p.m. Saturday before all customers have power restored there, the map said.

In Buncombe County about 4,000 people were affected.

Duke meteorologists had predicted most outages to be concentrated in counties such as Buncombe, Jackson and Mitchell, company spokeswoman Kim Crawford said.

"It's always hard to predict," she said.

Crews are now out doing assessments and working to get the lights back on, Crawford said.

Residents should stay away from lines, especially any that are sagging or down. They should also keep back from trees lines might be contacting.

Power outages can be reported to Duke by calling the toll-free, automated outage reporting system at 800-419-6356. Spanish speaking customers should call 866-4APAGON (427-2466) for outage reporting assistance.

They can also be reported online at progress-energy.com/app/OutageEntry.

For information regarding the outage restoration process, visit duke-energy.com/north-carolina/outages

Soccer cancelled - ballet not

The heavy snow means all weekend soccer games are cancelled for hundreds of adults and children involved in the Asheville Buncombe Youth Soccer Association or Asheville Buncombe Adult Soccer Association.

But a ballet performance of the Nutcracker Friday night will go on.

Mike Rottjakob, executive director of ABYSA and Highland Football Club, said all Saturday and Sunday games including playoff matches are cancelled.

The Asheville Ballet's 7:30 p.m. performance of the Nutcracker, however, is happening as scheduled a staff member at the Diana Wortham Theatre box office said. Asked if there would be any refunds, the staff member said people should call the Asheville Ballet. The staff member said he didn't know if anyone was at the ballet offices. A 5:45 p.m. call there went unanswered.

Power outages continue

Power outages that were expected to hit the area have increased over the last hour across WNC, according to information from Duke Energy Progress.

As heavy snow weighed down power lines, the biggest cluster of outages at 5:50 p.m.was in the East Asheville and Swannanoa areas.

That was followed by 47 in the West Asheville and Candler area.

Downed power lines are dangerous and should be reported to 911.

Power outages can be reported to Duke by calling the toll-free, automated outage reporting system at 800-419-6356. Spanish speaking customers should call 866-4APAGON (427-2466) for outage reporting assistance.

They can also be reported online at progress-energy.com/app/OutageEntry.

For information regarding the outage restoration process, visit duke-energy.com/north-carolina/outages

Highway patrol "flooded" with calls

Accidents have increased across the region with snow packing down and temperatures dropping to make roads slicker.

State troopers reported 54 collisions by Friday morning. By early Friday evening, so many calls had come in that officers hadn't been able to keep a tally, said Trooper Rico Stephens.

"Our communication center is just being flooded with calls. And I've been out working them myself," Stephens said.

Luckily, there had been no fatalities or serious injuries, at least as far as he knew, the trooper said.

"It’s mostly been fender benders at this point, vehicles that have run off the road and are stuck in the ditch."

The interstates and major roads were passable, but some secondary roads were becoming problematic, he said.

The officers weren't sure what to expect at rush hour approached. Many people likely stayed home from work, reducing the crush of cars, but Stephens said they would be ready for anything that does happen.

Storm could be one of biggest

Friday's dumper is now expected to drop up to 10 inches in some places by Saturday morning and could go down in history as one of the big ones, National Weather Service staff are now saying.

The storm that originally wasn't supposed to bring much accumulation to the area had by 3:51 p.m. stacked 8.5 inches on Arden, WNC's spot for the greatest snowfall.

And more was expected to come come down, said Scott Karentz, a meteorologist at the weather service's Greer, South Carolina, station.

"It is certainly a significant storm," he said. Karentz said it was too early to say, but that the snowfall amounts might put the event in the top 10 for regional blizzards.

Snow was expected to stop by daybreak Saturday, he said.

Here are some snowfall totals for the late afternoon in Buncombe County:

Arden: 8.5 inches

Montreat: 8 inches

Black Mountain: 8 inches

Candler: 8 inches

South Asheville: 8 inches

Leicester: 8 inches

Swannanoa: 7.5 inches

West Asheville: 7.3 inches

Fairview: 7 inches

Biltmore Forest: 7 inches

North Asheville 6 inches

Woodfin: 5.5 inches

Totals for other parts of WNC with the highest snowfall:

Maggie Valley: 7 inches

Mills River: 7 inches

Cashiers: 6 inches

Highlands: 7.5 inches

Wolf Laurel: 7.5 inches

Brevard: 7 inches.

Asheville Mall closes early

Asheville Mall closed at 4 p.m., but department store and restaurant hours may vary, according to a mall press release. Check the mall's website at Asheville-Mall.com or Facebook page at Facebook.com/AshevilleMall for the most up-to-date information.

I-40 wreck snarls traffic

A traffic accident shortly before 3 p.m. on eastbound I-40 at the Sweeten Creek Road interchange briefly closed all eastbound lanes, but they had reopened by 3:30 p.m.

A tractor-trailer collided with the rear end of a Honda Pilot, Asheville police spokeswoman Christina Hallingse said.

There were four passengers in the Honda and the two closest to the rear of the SUV were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, she said.

Automated information showed traffic moving slowly or backed up to a point about two miles west of the interchange at 3:40 p.m.

WNC snowfall totals

The National Weather Service has started receiving snowfall accumulation reports from Western North Carolina. So far, the Asheville Regional Airport has reported 4.8 inches of snow. Though that’s on the higher end of the accumulation reports coming out of WNC, Robbinsville has Asheville beat with 6.3 inches – the most the weather service has heard of so far today.

The weather service plans to release an updated forecast at about 4 p.m., but forecasters expect a break in snowfall between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. when a patch of dry air moves over the region.

A full list of the accumulation recorded by WNC communities is below, but it’s worth noting that the weather service received some of these reports more than an hour ago and actual accumulation could be greater.

Arden – 3 inches

Asheville – 4.8 inches

Candler – 4 inches

Clayton – 4.5 inches

Hendersonville – 3 inches

Maggie Valley – 3 inches

Montreat – 5 inches

Robinsville – 6.3 inches

Rosmund – 3 inches

Weaverville – 3.5 inches

Woodfin – 3 inches

Don't park in the road

To help with street plowing Asheville city officials are urging residents and others to avoid parking on the street.

Instead, motorists can park in all city decks for free. The free period in the parking garages is from 5 p.m. Dec. 8 to noon Dec. 9.

The entry gates will still be down, so motorists will need to pull a ticket at the gate. But all exit gates will be up, requiring no payment during the timeframe.



Buncombe closes ahead of schedule

Buncombe County government offices now are closed, two hours earlier than anticipated as snow continues to come down. Emergency and mandated services will remain open, the county said in a news release.

Waste Pro’s drivers got off the roads this morning after management decided it was unsafe to keep up with today’s garbage collection routes.

“If it clears up and the streets are plowed enough to allow us to continue to collect, we will send them back out,” a post on Buncombe County’s website said.

If collection is canceled for more than one day, canceled collections are made on the next regular collection day, the post said. More information can be found by contacting Waste Pro at 828-684-7790.

Yes, it does look a lot like Christmas

Locals and tourists alike populated the Asheville downtown snow-covered cityscape Friday afternoon, dodging in and out of shops to avoid the cold.

Though a few downtown businesses and most area schools were closed for the day, the city wasn't entirely shut down; not everybody got a snow day. Asheville buses ran all morning, and city employees worked to clear roads and sidewalks of snow and slush.

Leonard Teague, an Asheville city employee, sung "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" as he shuffled snow in front of a downtown parking lot.

Tourists get a snow surprise, too

For a 6-year-old, Maris McElligott has an arm like a canon. Her mother, Margaret, ducked, laughing as Maris hurled a snowball at her in Pack Square downtown Friday afternoon. Her dad, Shane, stood off to the side, safely out of range, taking pictures of it all.

"She's never really seen snow like this," Shane McElligott told the Citizen Times as the snowball battle raged on behind him. "She was pumped."

The McElligotts were visiting from Apex, North Carolina, for a wedding. They had seen Thursday night that winter weather was in the forecast, but — like most people in Asheville — they were pleasantly surprised to see far more snow than was initially forecast when they woke up.

The McElligotts were hardly the only people enjoying the snow downtown Friday.

Moira Goree and Sanne Hindes took in the view from atop the Civic Center parking deck. Both live in Asheville and decided to meet up downtown for one reason: "Snowday!" they both said nearly simultaneously.

"I like the way it snows here," Hindes said. "It's pretty and agreeable, and I like the way the city shuts down. I'm from the Midwest where it's deathly."

"Gotta make sure it’s safe," he said with a smile.

Power outage update

Duke Energy reported that about 1,600 people in Western North Carolina were without power just before 1 p.m. Friday. That’s a relatively small number given the amount of snow that has hit the region.

Outages were widely scattered in the region, with several in the Swannanoa Valley east of Asheville, rural areas between Hendersonville and Brevard and in and around Franklin.

Duke said it expects to fix most power problems in Buncombe County by the end of the day but was still assessing outages in counties to the west and south of Asheville.

Snow cancels flights

Friday’s snow had a significant impact on flights into and out of Asheville Regional Airport.

Of the 11 flights scheduled to arrive between 9:45 a.m. and 4 p.m. Friday, four had been canceled, the airport reported as of midday Friday. Half of the 10 departures scheduled over the same period had been canceled.

Asheville Regional was not alone among the South’s airports in having weather-related issues.

Delta Air Lines canceled 125 flights Friday through its hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, while Southwest Airlines canceled more than 40 flights, The Associated Press reported. Both airlines prepared for the storm by having crews de-ice planes, and Delta waived fees for some passengers scheduled to fly on Friday.

Buncombe County offices to close

Buncombe County offices will close at 3 p.m. today because of the snowstorm, officials announced. Emergency and mandated services will remain open.

Collisions widespread

Traffic was still moving on interstate highways and other major roads around Western North Carolina late Friday morning, but accidents and slick roads left motorists creeping along in a few areas.

A wreck reported at 11:31 a.m. at the Charlotte Street exit on westbound Interstate 240 downtown closed one lane of the road and slowed traffic to a crawl.

Other slowdowns were reported on eastbound Interstate 40 between Ridgecrest and Old Fort, also the result of a traffic accident, eastbound U.S. 23-74 on the western outskirts of Waynesville and westbound U.S. 23-74 near Lake Junaluska.

Major roads were generally slushy while back roads had significant accumulations of snow on them.

The State Highway Patrol had responded to 54 collisions in WNC Friday morning, Trooper Rico Stephens said.

A wreck earlier Friday at the Jackson-Macon county line between Sylva and Franklin backed up traffic there and sent one person to the hospital with injuries, he said.

A tractor-trailer jackknifed early Friday on an exit ramp at the U.S. 19-23 interchange with New Stock Road between Woodfin and Weaverville, he said.

Stephens urged those who can avoid driving to do so and those who must travel to slow down.

“A lot of these collisions can be attributed to driver error,” he said, particularly traveling too fast for road conditions.



Power outages

Duke Energy is reporting minimal outages. Three are reported in Sylva, three in Franklin and three south of Hendersonville. Fifty-six customers are affected.

Open house postponed

State government said it is postponing a planned open house at the Governor’s Western Residence, located off Town Mountain Road high above Asheville because of the weather. It had been scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Asheville City Hall open (for now)

City offices were open as of 9:45 a.m. But some municipal events have already been cancelled and more could be called off as snow piles up.

Cancellations so far:

All city boards and commissions meeting have been called off for Friday.

Saturday’s South Slope Vision Plan design workshop has been canceled. More information will be released when a firm makeup date is found.

Meanwhile, some recreation centers are likely to close, said city spokeswoman Dawa Hitch. More will be coming on city services and any plowing decisions, Hitch said.

“Public works has mobilized and we'll send out updates as they become available,” she said.

Hitch said she expected an update very soon this morning.

Road conditions update

Main roads around Western North Carolina were passable as of 9:30 a.m., the State Highway Patrol said, but secondary roads were mostly white and there were plenty of wrecks across the region.

“We have collisions spread out all over Western North Carolina,” said Trooper Rico Stephens.

With snow still coming down, many interstate highways were slushy. Traffic on Interstate 240 in East Asheville was moving at about 40-50 mph at 8:45 a.m. and at similar speeds on I-40 and I-240 on the west side of the city.

Automated traffic information showed traffic moving reasonably well on most interstate highways in the region. However, there were slowdowns on eastbound I-40 around Canton, eastbound I-26 between Mars Hill and Weaverville and I-26 in both directions at the North Carolina-Tennessee state line.

The biggest problem areas in Buncombe County were in Skyland and Arden. Vehicles were at a standstill or nearly so on parts of Sweeten Creek Road, the northern half of Mills Gap Road and a short section of Overlook Road.

Leicester Highway was also significantly congested.



Even more snow on the way

The National Weather Service now forecasts Asheville will see about 5 inches of snowfall before daybreak Saturday.

Outlying communities, those higher in elevation especially, could see as much as 8 inches. But, much like Thursday’s forecast of half and inch turned into Friday’s reality of several inches of snow, the forecast could change again.

“It can always change but it looks like right now like it’s going to pan out fairly close to the current forecast,” said Scott Krentz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service based in Greenville South Carolina.

So far, Candler has reported 2 inches of snow. Waynesville has reported 2-3 inches. Asheville, Hendersonville and other nearby communities have yet to report snowfall totals to the National Weather Service, but Krentz expects numbers from them this afternoon.



Surpised by the snow? So what happened?

A 40 percent chance of less than half an inch of snow. That was the National Weather Service’s forecast for Western North Carolina through Thursday evening.

But as night fell, forecasters upped the odds to a 50 percent chance the region would see about an inch. A swing and a miss.

By 9:50 a.m. Friday, Asheville roads - even downtown - were covered with a couple inches of snow, and rural roads had even more.

So what changed overnight, leaving many Asheville residents surprised to see more snow on the ground when they woke up than was originally predicted for the entire storm? In a word: moisture.

The temperature was always right. The cold front that stalled out in the midlands and low country a couple days ago ensured that Asheville and other WNC communities would get some snow if the moisture was there. Until the early hours of Friday, meteorologists weren’t sure whether that piece of the winter-weather puzzle would fall into place.

“Yesterday you looked like you were on the fringe of the moisture coming up from the Gulf, and now you’re kind of right in the middle of it,” said Scott Krentz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service based in Greenville South Carolina.

A late-night shift in wind direction Thursday night steered the mass of moisture moving up from the Gulf of Mexico directly toward Asheville, which it originally seemed would only get a glancing blow, according to Krentz.

“The winds are aligned just right now,” he said. “It’s going to last almost 24 hours. It’s going to accumulate.”



Henderson County offices closing

HENDERSONVILLE - Henderson County Government non-emergency offices will close at noon. Those offices include Animal Services, all branches of the Henderson County Public Library, and Solid Waste, including both the Transfer Station and Convenience Center,

Delivery of emergency services will not be impacted by the early closing.

County residents needing emergency information should call 828 697-4728 or log onto www.hendersoncountync.org and click view Emergency Information.

If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1.



Asheville city buses still running

Don’t want to drive in the snow? Catch the bus

With snow falling, city buses are still running, giving nervous motorists another option.

To keep up with the ART (Asheville Redefines Transit) bus system, check in at ashevillenc.gov/departments/transit/service_alerts.htm



Parks, roads are closed

The blustery, snow-impending weather has led to the closure of the entire Blue Ridge Parkway in Western North Carolina.

Read more here.

Pretty, but slick

Roads are slick in Arden and South Asheville. Mills Gap Road, in particular, had not been treated as of 9 a.m., and several cars going downhill and eastbound around Pinners Cove Road had slid off the road.

-Katie Wadington, news director

4-6 inches of snow expected

ASHEVILLE – Much of Western North Carolina is waking up to snow flurries, with the region under a winter storm warning until Saturday morning.

The National Weather Service is now predicting heavy snow for much of the region, with 4 to 6 inches of snow of accumulation, according to a forecast that is more wintry than what was issued a day prior. There could be more than 8 inches at higher elevations.

The agency said travel conditions could be hazardous.

RELATED: School closings for Friday

The temperature will hover around freezing, with a high of 34 predicted for Asheville and a low expected around 26.

Many Western North Carolina school districts closed in anticipation of the bad weather.