Winter storm Warning: Parts of Upstate should prepare for damaging ice storm

A Winter Storm Warning is now in effect from Saturday night to Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service's latest forecast Friday afternoon.

The National Weather Service called for less snow accumulation and more ice for parts of the Upstate this weekend. Snow totals have dropped for South Carolina and in return more ice is expected, according to the weather services' latest forecast at 11 a.m. Friday.

Two to five inches of sleet, snow and ice are expected in South Carolina and ice accumulations of one quarter to one half inch with light sleet and snow accumulations are expected with winds gusting as high as 35 mph.

Travel could be nearly impossible across the entire area. At least scattered power outages and tree damage are likely across the Piedmont due to the ice as well as gusty winds, according to National Weather Service's Winter Storm Warning.

Black ice could be a problem each morning early next week, the weather service said.

Late Friday afternoon, Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency for this weekend's winter storm and urged residents to monitor local weather conditions and take safety precautions.

"South Carolina will be impacted by a major winter storm this weekend," McMaster said in a press release. "There is a potential for very dangerous conditions caused by accumulations of ice and snow, which will likely result in power outages across the state."

The executive order puts into place the state's emergency plan in place that coordinates resources between state agencies.

Greenville County and Spartanburg County are now expected to see a total ice accumulation of 0.1 to 0.25 inches while Anderson County is expected to see 0.25 to 0.5 inches of ice, according to the National Weather Service.

Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson were highlighted in red on a weather service map. Areas highlighted in red should prepare for a damaging ice storm, according to the weather service.

Related: Winter storm watch for Sunday in Greenville; high potential for severe winter weather

Conditions: Certain roads are being prepared for a winter storm in SC. Here's what will happen where

Read More: Wonder why local TV networks often make different snow predictions?

With extreme weather like ice and freezing rain, Laurens Electric Cooperative is planning for potential widespread outages. The co-op has prepared extra supplies, has crews on stand-by and has emergency call-center capabilities in case of widespread outages.

The co-op currently has 100 additional personnel on stand-by with staff and line crews on-call 24 hours a day to work on any outages, according to the co-op.

Duke Energy has service crew workers, line technicians and other storm personnel available across service regions to respond to power outages that may occur this weekend.

Depending on the impact of the weather, Duke Energy can bring in additional workers from its Southeast utilities and/or activate mutual aid agreements to enlist help from other utilities across the United States.

Check back for more on this developing story.

The Greenville News is providing this important information about the winter storm free of charge. Please remember that your subscriptions to The News help us to provide this and more important journalism to our community. Thank you for reading, and please consider buying a subscription. For information, visit greenvilleonline.com/subscribe.

Tamia Boyd is a Michigan native who covers breaking news in Greenville. Email her at tboyd@gannett.com, and follow her on Twitter @tamiamb.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville County, SC winter storm: Damaging ice in Upstate forecast