Travel hazards expected as ice, possible snow forecast for New Bern
The New Bern area could see significant impacts from a winter weather system expected to begin moving through the area late Thursday night into Friday morning. With temperatures expected to hover around the freezing mark for much of the weekend, the storm could cause travel hazards as well as power outages.
According to Ryan Ellis with the National Weather Service in Newport, rain is forecast to begin late Thursday with a mix of frozen precipitation starting early Friday morning as temperatures drop to near freezing.
Ellis said by sunrise Friday, travel conditions could be hazardous.
“The big issue with Friday is the high temperature is only supposed to be 31 degrees, so anything that falls out of the sky, even if it falls as liquid, it’s going to freeze probably,” Ellis said.
By Friday night, the precipitation is expected to change over to sleet and possibly a small amount of snow moving into Saturday morning.
Ellis said the forecast currently calls for less than an inch of snow in the New Bern area.
“If you’re west of town, you might get lucky and get an inch, but if you’re east of town or even right in town you might get less,” he said.
Ellis said New Bern could receive up to a quarter-inch of ice from the storm, possibly causing power outages.
“What we’re nervous about are the travel impacts on Friday and the potential for more ice starting to get into that range where tree branches and power lines get heavy,” Ellis noted.
Ellis stressed that there was still a “high degree of uncertainty” concerning the New Bern forecast as of Wednesday morning.
“New Bern is right on that line between where places to the east towards the coast will be just a degree or two higher, and so it could be all liquid. And just to your west, you have highs of 28 degrees or so, where you should get more impact from significant freezing rain versus to the east of town,” he explained.
The winter weather is expected to begin moving out of the New Bern area by mid-morning Saturday, though snow flurries may linger.
Ellis said travel hazards could persist into Sunday, however, with temperatures forecast to drop into the mid-20s Saturday night.
“Any liquid that remains on the road Saturday could refreeze again Sunday morning. So you could have black ice conditions for folks going into church Sunday,” Ellis said.
Wednesday morning, shoppers at New Bern Mall offered mixed opinions about the winter weather forecast.
Alexis Simmons said she would be happy if the ice and snow bypassed New Bern entirely.
“No, no, please. I’m a Southern girl; I’m ready for summer again,” Simmons said. “I actually don’t mind it if I don’t have to get out in it, but I’ve got to get to work. Just stay away.”
Bryan Blunt said his two children, ages 6 and 8, were excited about the possible wintry mix.
“Oh yeah, that’s all they’ve talked about all week. You know they’ll be out there in it the minute the first flake falls,” said Blunt.
Power outages can be reported to the City of New Bern Electric Department at 252-636-4070. To monitor power outages in real-time, visit newbernnc.gov/departments/utilities/electric/index.php
This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: New Bern could see significant impact from winter weather on Thursday
