News

Schools closed Thursday as snow gives way to deep freeze, black ice

By Bill Moss, Published: January 17, 2018

Henderson County so far has escaped serious problems as the third snowstorm of the winter blanketed the region and became sealed in by a deep freeze.

National Weather Service forecast a low of 14 overnight tonight and Henderson County Fire Marshal Kevin Waldrup said some models showed lows as low as 9 and wind chill factor down to minus-9. The recommendation is to stay indoors and avoid driving.

Henderson County schools Thursday, with an optional teacher work day. Henderson County local government offices and agencies, Animal Services, all branches of the Henderson County Public Library, the landfill and recycling convenience Center and the Henderson County Courthouse will open at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

The county appeared to have received the forecasted snowfall totals of 2-4 inches.Henderson County got an average of 3.8 inches, WLOS-TV reported, which was one of the highest totals for counties in the region.

Expect whatever’s on the ground now to stay Thursday afternoon or so, when temperatures rise to about 41.
“The high today is just in the 20s,” Waldrup said. “The good news is the wind’s not got up so we don’t have any power outages. Actually, it’s pretty slow as far as emergencies. The accidents we’ve had nobody’s been hurt, just sliding off the edges and stuff like that.”
The forecast called for gusts as 25 mph. While that did not seem to be common across the county, the call for wind and the slick roads made most people stay in.
“I think that’s reason we haven’t had any more instances than we’ve had because people heeded the warning and stayed home, with the wind chill what it was, and not get out if they have to.”
Duke Energy reported just 53 power outages on Wednesday afternoon.
“We usually don’t set up shelters unless there’s a big power outage and we just haven’t seen that as yet,” Waldrup said.
He had not yet heard an announcement from school administrators on school Thursday.
“I really expect them not to” open, Waldrup said. “Roads, they’re passable but they’re still frozen. There’s no thawing happening today.”
The forecast calls for a high of 41 Thursday under sunny skies and a warmup continuing through the weekend, with a high of 50 on Friday, 55 on Saturday and 58 on Sunday. The high should be near 52 on Monday and there’s a chance of rain or snow that night.