Here Comes Winter (Like It or Not)

Being the Floridians that we are, we've been looking forward to some real winter weather since we moved up to the Carolinas in 2005. There was a dusting of snow last year, but we still felt kind of cheated out of the whole winter experience. Dionne's weather alert radio (every good survivalist should have one) went off this morning with the following report:

Statement as of 4:52 AM EST on January 16, 2008

...Winter weather will affect the region Wednesday night and
Thursday...

...Winter Storm Warning in effect from 7 PM this evening to 7 PM EST Thursday...Winter Storm Watch no longer in effect...

The National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg has upgraded the Winter Storm Watch to a Winter Storm Warning...which is in effect from 7 PM this evening to 7 PM EST Thursday.

A band of moderate to heavy snow and sleet is forecast to move north over the mountains and foothills late this evening into the early morning hours of Thursday. This band will likely result in a quick accumulation of one to two inches of snow and sleet across eastern slopes of the mountains and adjacent foothills. A rapid transition to sleet and freezing rain will then follow during the early morning hours Thursday. An additional inch or two of snow is possible...mainly at higher elevations in and near the mountains. Freezing rain will then fall for much of the morning before temperatures warm to a few degrees above freezing. Where temperatures stay below freezing the longest...up to a quarter inch of ice accumulation is possible.

The timing of the wintry precipitation will likely lead to significant travel problems across the warned area Thursday morning. Ice accumulations around a quarter of an inch may result in some trees and power lines to fall...blocking roads and leading to scattered power outages.

A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow...sleet...and ice are expected or occurring. Strong winds are also possible. This will make travel very hazardous or impossible.

The rest of the day will be spent running around like ants before a rainstorm, making sure we've got supplies for both us and the animals in case there is a power outage and icy roads make travel (escape) too hazardous.