Storm approaches South, threatening mix of ice, sleet, snow

ATLANTA — A winter storm heading toward the South could spread freezing rain into Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and drop several inches of snow across parts of Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia, forecasters said Thursday.

Winter storm watches covered large parts of the region ahead of the expected arrival of a mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow. Forecasters warned that even a thin layer of ice could make weekend travel treacherous on highways just north of the Gulf Coast all the way to the East Coast.

Mike Schichtel, lead forecaster at the federal government’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md., said the threat of snow, ice and sleet is significant and has the potential to disrupt activities throughout the Southeast.

The National Weather Service projects that 2 inches of snow could fall in Atlanta, with slightly higher amounts in some suburbs.

In late January 2014, news reports of a snow and ice storm prompted office workers in Atlanta to leave work early and flood freeways. The crush of traffic, combined with snow and icy conditions, clogged interstates for miles. Trucks blocked many freeways, children were stranded on school buses, and some drivers were stranded in their cars overnight.

This time, forecasters say, they don’t expect the worst of the wintry weather to strike met ro At l a nt a unt i l a f t e r schoolchildren are dismissed and the workday ends Friday.

In North Carolina, which could get as much as 7 inches of snow and sleet, shoppers had already begun their pilgrimage to local grocery stores to stock up on the customary purchases of bread and eggs. Sherrill Suitt Craig went to a market near her home, only to divert to a store several miles away because her initial stop was too crowded.

“I have no idea why, but people are acting like complete jackasses when they hear that there is snow in the fore- cast,” Craig said. “I was just doing my regular shopping.”

More than t wo-thirds of West Virginia’s counties sent students home from public schools early as the storm moved in Thursday. And with forecasters saying as much as 2 inches of snow and sleet could fall in central Alabama by Saturday morning, some Birmingham-area systems canceled today’s classes and sporting events as a precaution.