Various government agencies and Duke Energy are preparing as best they can to minimize outages and other pain that could come with snow and freezing rain.
Doug Outlaw, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Upstate,said Tuesday the forecast is for half an inch to 2 inches of snow north of Interstate 85 and freezing rain south of the interstate.
The low temperature Friday night is expected to be 27 degrees. Driving conditions will be hazardous and there is a good chance ice accumulations will bring down branches and subsequently power lines.
The freezing rain is expected to turn to rain Saturday morning, when the temperature is expected to rise to 42, Outlaw said.
The storm will move out of the Upstate Saturday afternoon.
Ryan Mosier, spokesman for Duke Energy, said the company has readied its storm plan and has recently completed repairs and improvements to lines and substations damaged as the remains of Hurricane Helene swept through the Upstate in September.
Work continues in North Carolina, he said.
Also helpful in minimizing whatever damage comes is Duke Energy’s self-healing technology, started in 2024, which gives the utility the ability to reroute the current to reduce the number of people without power.
Since its inception, the system has helped to avoid some 130,000 outages, Mosier said.
Mosier said it would likely be Saturday morning before the full extent of damage is known. Crews will deploy based on wind, traffic and damage.
Outlaw said wind is not likely to be a factor in this storm.
Meanwhile, City of Greenville Public Works employees are attaching plows to its vehicles, filling up trucks with brine and running test routes, Beth Brotherton, city spokesperson, said.
“We are still looking at the forecast models which indicate “something” but until it gets a little closer and we know whether it will be rain, sleet, snow, ice or a mix, we aren’t releasing any specific alerts or directives,” she said.
Greenville County government has three base camps for Public Works and has readied all vehicles with full tanks of gas, tested and fueled generators and and chainsaws and other equipment.
“Our final plans and preparation begins within the projected 24 hours of the event when the forecast becomes more accurate,” said Bob Mihalic, county spokesperson. “Timing, intensity and precipitation (snow, ice, both) determine staffing and final truck preps (example, snow plow spreaders applied if expecting snow only event or de-icing materials if ice storm)."
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