— The snow that started with a few flakes in the southern portion of the state just after sunset progressed Friday night across the entire WRAL viewing area, WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said.

"There will be noticeable accumulations across much of the area," WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said.

Fayetteville and areas to the south and east could see 4 to 6 inches of snow by Saturday morning, Fishel said. Two to 4 inches would be a good bet for Raleigh, he said.

Maze warned that roads would be "slushy" and that bridges and overpasses were likely to freeze over in some areas.

The conditions had some drivers sliding into ditches in Wake County, the state Highway Patrol said.

Fayetteville police said road conditions were quiet around 9:45 p.m. There were a few dozen wrecks, mostly in the Columbus County area, troopers said.

Wrecks with injuries were reported at the intersections of Holly Springs and Kildaire Farm roads in Apex and Ballentine Dairy and Sunset Lake roads in Raleigh.

Other wrecks were reported at:

Camellia and Hitchcock drives in Durham

Lake Boone Trail and Landmark Drive in Raleigh

Wakefield Plantation and Forest Pine drives in Raleigh

3921 Western Boulevard in Raleigh

Lake Wheeler Road and Sierra Drive in Raleigh

Sunset Lake Road and Main Street in Holly Springs

Perry Creek and Berkshire Downs in Raleigh

10000 Raleigh Road near the intersection of King Mill Road in Johnston County

With every run of the computer models used for forecasting, WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said she found the storm "looking really impressive" and "more intense.”

"The snowfall could be rather heavy at times tonight," Fishel said.

The National Weather Service has much of the state under winter weather warnings and advisories from 5 p.m. Friday through noon Saturday.

Unlike the storm on Jan. 29-30, which combined snow, sleet and ice in North Carolina, this round will be all snow, Fishel said.

"The difference between this storm and the last one," Maze said, "is that, instead of temperatures plummeting into the 20s while the storm is occurring and staying there, our temperatures will actually warm up Saturday. We'll get into the upper 30s, and we will see melting take place during the day."

"The moisture is concentrated Friday night, and exits stage right Saturday," Fishel added.

By Sunday, the weather will clear up in time for another system to move through Monday night into Tuesday morning, which could result in a wintry-mix, Gardner said.

WRAL-TV's Weekend Morning News will begin at 5 a.m. Saturday.