By: Erin Smith
Folks in Bladen County could wake up to as much as one-tenth of an inch of ice on Friday morning, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Steve Pfaff.
“There could be a window of time where we could see freezing rain at the onset of the storm, late Thursday and into Friday morning,” said Pfaff.
A forecast graphic supplied by Pfaff shows that Bladen County has a high probability to receive freezing rain. According to the graphic, most of Bladen County is in the 80 percent probability range for receiving freezing rain Thursday night.
He said with the arctic air mass that is currently in place over the area, it will not take much for the rain to freeze on contact with surfaces like trees, bridges, overpasses and even some roadways.
Pfaff said there is the potential for temperatures to warm up above freezing on Friday afternoon.
“It is recommended that even those areas in or near the lower probabilities closely follow the development of this storm system as a change in storm track could lead to significant changes with the position of the freeze line,” said Pfaff.
He added Mother Nature is not done yet. Pfaff told Bladen Online on Wednesday morning the National Weather Service is also watching the forecast for Saturday night which could see the potential of a few snowflakes flying in the area overnight.
Bladen County Emergency Management Director Bradley Kinlaw said that he and his staff are monitoring the situation closely.
“We’re going to have our equipment ready to go. It doesn’t take a lot of ice to cause power outages,” said Kinlaw.
He advises that in the case of winter weather, if you don’t have to travel, stay home.
“With just a little ice, we have a lot of wrecks,” said Kinlaw.
He said folks can monitor the latest storm information and learn about how to prepare themselves using the app and website for ReadyNC.org
Kinlaw said the website provides folks with information about how to prepare themselves personally for winter weather and other natural disasters.
Bladen Online will continue to bring you the latest winter storm news as we get it.
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