Snow pounds parts of East Coast; Southeast sees blizzard conditions

DURHAM, N.C. - Snow and sleet pounded a large swath of the East Coast on Saturday, coating roads with ice and causing hundreds of crashes. Thousands of people lost power and forecasters warned of blizzard-like conditions from Virginia to parts of the Northeast.

Police investigated several fatal crashes as potentially storm-related, but some of the South’s biggest cities — Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh — appeared to avoid the worst of the storm. Authorities praised residents for learning the lessons of past storms that resulted in icy gridlock, where thousands of people were stranded along the interstates. But officials warned that bitter cold would keep roads treacherous well after the snow and sleet stopped.

The storm lingered in northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, where blizzard conditions were reported. The weather was believed to be responsible for a 20-vehicle pileup on a Connecticut highway; initial reports indicated there were no serious injuries.

Burlington and Roxboro in central North Carolina received 8 inches or more of snow. Preliminary figures from the National Weather Service in Greer, South Carolina, showed snowfall totals reached up to 10 inches in at least seven locations, including Greensboro and High Point, Lewisville in Forsyth County, and Lenoir and Rhodhiss in Caldwell County.

Several inches fell in southeast Virginia, where a blizzard warning was issued for the cities along the coast.

North Carolina reported more than 250 crashes. Virginia State Police said they responded to 325 crashes and 322 disabled vehicles between midnight and noon on Saturday. Hundreds of crashes were reported in Tennessee starting Friday. Parts of three interstates in Mississippi turned into parking lots when the roads became too icy to negotiate. Hundreds of flights were canceled, from Atlanta to airports farther north.

At least two deaths are being blamed on the weather. In Kentucky, a man was killed when his pickup went off a snowslickened Kentucky road Thursday. In Georgia, a 20-year-old Georgia State University student was killed after his SUV crashed on Interstate 75 in Monroe County. Motorist deaths in North Carolina and Maryland were being investigated to see if they were caused by the weather.