LUMBERTON — Robeson County residents, to the displeasure of snow lovers, dodge the brunt of a winter storm that left parts of North Carolina covered in a foot of snow and at least 15 people dead throughout the United States.

The snow that fell during the overnight hours of Wednesday and Thursday could at most be called a dusting in most of Robeson County.

“We had reports of 1 inch of snow in northern Robeson County, in Red Springs,” said Carl Morgan, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

They received no reports or measurable accumulations from other parts of the county, he said. There were reports of 1.2 inches of snow in northern Bladen County.

Most of the snow was gone by Thursday afternoon. And plenty of sunshine and temperatures predicted to reach into the mid- to high 50s today and Saturday should take care of the rest. The National Weather Service predicts the high temperature on Sunday to be 63, under sunny skies.

The wintry precipitation caused no major problems for county motorists.

“The below freezing temperatures created some minor issues with bridges freezing as well as standing water freezing on the pavements, but nothing major,” said Brice Bell, county maintenance engineer for the N.C. Department of Transportation.

There were a few icy spots Thursday morning, state Highway Patrol 1st Sgt. J.D. Brewington said. Otherwise there were no problems with the county’s highways as a result of the winter weather.

“Right now the roads are pretty clear,” he said.

The threat did disrupt the Public Schools of Robeson County, which did not have classes Wednesday or Thursday.

The system will operate on its regular schedule on Friday, according to Superintendent Shanita Wooten, but there will be no class for students, except at the Early College.

Friday is a required teacher workday for all schools except the Early College, which will have a regular school day for students and staff. Also, all afterschool and evening extracurricular games/practices, drivers education, events, programs, etc. will resume Friday and Saturday.

The threat of snow prompted Southeastern Health to adjust schedules for Wednesday and Thursday. But today’s schedules are normal, said Amanda Crabtree, a Southeastern Health spokesperson.

The county, city and The University of North Carolina at Pembroke will operate on normal schedules today.

The Durham area saw as much as 12 inches of snow that left residents shoveling, scraping and plowing their way Thursday out of a snowy deep freeze that caused a standstill across much of a region accustomed to mild winters.

At least 15 people died because of the storm. Among the dead are a baby in a car that slid off an icy overpass outside New Orleans, and a 6-year-old boy who sledded onto a roadway in Virginia.

Authorities across the South urged drivers to stay off treacherous roads. Louisiana highways remained closed and New Orleans residents were avoiding showers to restore pressure to a system plagued by frozen pipes. Atlanta was slowly returning to normal after being frozen in its tracks by about an inch of snow.

North Carolina transportation officials had 2,200 trucks out plowing and salting a day after the storm hit. Despite this, troopers responded to more than 2,700 crashes and police reported hundreds more as North Carolina’s five most populous cities all saw significant snow.

Schools remained closed or had delayed openings across much of the region, effectively giving many students a seven-day break as the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday extended through Thursday.

In Durham, a police officer was able to avert tragedy by jumping into a frigid creek to help a driver and her passenger after their car ran down an embankment during the storm Wednesday. Police said the officer guided the women through waist-deep water to safety.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_Duck_1-1.jpg

As many as 12 inches of snow fell in some places of North Carolina. This photograph was taken in Durham by Sarah Willets, formerly managing editor at The Robesonian.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_Snow-Sarah_1.jpgAs many as 12 inches of snow fell in some places of North Carolina. This photograph was taken in Durham by Sarah Willets, formerly managing editor at The Robesonian.

Staff and wire report