THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 30, 1997 TAG: 9701300420
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 54 lines
Commuters may have a slippery time of it this morning, as a mix of precipitation is expected over the region. But how bad it will be depends on where you are and where you're going.
And whatever falls, it should all be gone by this evening.
Folks in inland sections - Isle of Wight County, Suffolk, Williamsburg - stand a better chance of being caught in a band of freezing precipitation. Rain is more likely closer to the coast.
Still, with temperatures hovering at the freezing mark, the National Weather Service warned that forecasts for a 60 percent chance of snow and sleet beginning this morning could apply all the way to the coast.
``Motorists should allow extra time to reach their destinations during the morning commute over the greater Hampton Roads area and southeastern Virginia,'' said Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Wakefield. ``Motorists may encounter some icy spots on exposed locations such as bridges and overpasses, especially during the early morning hours.''
A winter weather advisory is in effect for northeastern North Carolina this morning for the counties of Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford, Northampton, Pasquotank and Perquimans. No advisories were in effect for Hampton Roads as of 9 p.m.
Cold air filtering into the region Wednesday night, combined with a developing storm along the Gulf coasts of Alabama and northwest Florida, set the stage for the wintry mix.
Temperatures were expected to fall below freezing overnight in interior areas of North Carolina and Virginia and hover near freezing over coastal sections.
The storm was forecast to track northeastward off the South Carolina coast by late tonight, spreading a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain across northeastern North Carolina by daybreak today and across southeastern Virginia later this morning.
``The precipitation is expected to change over to rain by Thursday morning over coastal areas of northeastern North Carolina and extreme southeastern Virginia, including the southside of Hampton Roads, as temperatures quickly rise above freezing,'' Cobb said.
It's also expected to change to all rain by noon over interior areas of southeastern Virginia, he said.
The storm is expected to be moving out to sea by tonight.
Just in case more snow than rain falls locally, state and local highway crews are ready to move out this morning. MEMO: For updates, call INFOLINE at 640-5555, and enter category 1234
for the forecast or 1236 for special weather statements, if issued.