York County ducks worst of winter storm; more snow falls Saturday

A winter storm left a blanket of snow and ice across York, Chester and Lancaster counties Friday, but officials said the region escaped the worst of the weather.

Another round of light snow began falling Saturday morning.

The northern and northwestern parts of York County, including Fort Mill, Lake Wylie and Clover, got the brunt of the bad weather, with a thick coating of sleet, snow and ice and hazardous roads, said Chuck Haynes, director of York County Emergency Management.

Primary roads in the Rock Hill area and south in Chester County were in much better condition, officials said, with a coating of slush and ice, but not enough in most areas to seriously hamper travel.

Haynes and Ed Darby, deputy director of Chester County Emergency Management, warned Friday that roads could refreeze as temperatures drop overnight and might be dangerous on Saturday morning.

“The frozen rain will continue and we will see some snowfall after midnight,” Haynes said Friday. He said the region could see another inch of snow early Saturday.

So far, weather officials said the heaviest snowfall in South Carolina was mostly along the Interstate 85 corridor, with up to 4 inches reported in higher elevations in northern Greenville and Spartanburg counties.

Dozens of crashes were reported Friday in York and Chester counties, according to the S.C. Department of Transportation and emergency officials, but no serious injuries were reported.

Power outages were limited, Haynes said.

York Electric Cooperative reported a few scattered outages Friday, with about 100 customers affected at one point in Fort Mill, Lake Wylie and Smyrna.

Joyce Baker, York Electric’s public relations coordinator, said 21 additional personnel would be called in from Horry and Aiken counties as well as contractors Williams Electric to address expected problems from ice accumulation.

Rock Hill had only one power outage early Friday caused by a car wreck, said spokeswoman Katie Quinn. That outage was quickly repaired.

Duke Energy, which reported about 25,000 power outages across South Carolina, said it had mobilized to restore power to customers across the company’s Carolinas service territory.

About 15,000 of those outages were in Greenville and Pickens counties, with an additional 5,000 outages reported in the Pee Dee, the company said.

In addition to Duke Energy’s more than 3,200 line and tree workers and contractors, about 3,600 workers from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Indiana, Oklahoma, Michigan and Texas were called in to help the Carolinas.

The S.C. Department of Transportation reported no closed highways in the state. However, it warned that many roads were slushy and that they could refreeze before dawn Saturday.

Haynes said state transportation crews focused mainly on clearing Interstate 77 and some of the primary travel routes in York County on Friday.

He urged people to stay off roads if possible. “That cuts down on call volume and keeps traffic clear so emergency response folks can get where they need to.”

An eight-soldier team of Army National Guard 178th Combat Engineers based in Rock Hill, using a Humvee and wrecker, are assisting S.C. Highway Patrol with wrecks and problems along Interstate 77 in York and Chester counties, said Maj. Tom Meares, administrative officer for the 178th.

The unit has a second eight-soldier team that will assist if conditions require more manpower.

The soldiers are part of 11 teams around the state who will be assisting state police and others as needed, said Lt. Col. Cindi King of the S.C. National Guard.

Travel conditions were worse in North Carolina. Heavy sleet was reported across the Charlotte area, with several inches of snow farther to the northwest.

The National Weather Service said it received several reports of 8 inches or more of snow in and around Asheville, N.C., and there were widespread reports of 4 to 7 inches along the Interstate 40 corridor in North Carolina.

All York County government offices will be closed Saturday.

This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 11:32 AM with the headline "York County ducks worst of winter storm; more snow falls Saturday."