CHARLOTTE — Travel is light Saturday night as people are paying attention to the incoming ice storm in the Carolinas, but the street temperatures started dropping quickly as the sun went down.
Severe Weather Center 9’s Joe Puma went to the Hamilton Street overpass near Uptown Charlotte and saw a fraction of the cars traveling along Interstate 277 that you would usually see on a Saturday night.
As the air temperature hovered around 30 degrees at 6 p.m., the asphalt was around 20 degrees. The metal guardrail on the side of the road was 11 degrees.
Those temperatures are important as precipitation is expected overnight Saturday into Sunday morning. With freezing rain and freezing roads, ice is expected to accumulate quickly.
The Severe Weather Center 9 team is tracking the ice storm over North Carolina and South Carolina, and we’re expecting around .25″ of ice accumulation. That much ice could bring down tree branches and power lines, in addition to creating slick road conditions.
Keep an eye on traffic conditions and crashes at this link.
(VIDEO: Duke Energy sets up at Carowinds to respond to winter storm)
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