Pam Thompson, who owns Dillard House Stables in north Georgia's Rabun County, was near the bullseye of the largest snow forecast. holiday, which could help reduce travel problems along with temperatures that are supposed to rise into the 40s.

Many schools and businesses will be closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. РІР‚СљWe just donРІР‚в„ўt have as many people to drive the trucks or operate the equipment,РІР‚Сњ said Marcus Thompson, a spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The state highway agency warned that labor shortages meant crews might not respond to problems areas as quickly as normal. Roy Cooper signed an emergency order and the administration urged people to stay at home after the storm hits. РІР‚СљWe feel real good about where we are,РІР‚Сњ he said. Even volunteers pitched in to help as the city stepped up its normal schedule of preparing for winter weather, he said. The city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, had to borrow workers from other departments to help treat roads ahead of the storm because COVID-19 had caused a shortage of workers, spokesman Randy Britton said. РІР‚СљI think the pandemic has made people more anxious than normal,РІР‚Сњ he said. Travel problems could extend into metro Atlanta, where about 2 inches (5 centimeters) of snow brought traffic to a slip-sliding halt in 2014, an event still known as РІР‚СљSnowmaggedon.РІР‚СњР”Р„t Dawsonville Hardware about 60 miles (97 km) north of Atlanta, owner Dwight Gilleland said he was already out heaters by noon Friday and only had five bags of salt and sand left. On Friday, the fast-moving storm dropped heavy snow across a large swath of the Midwest, where travel conditions deteriorated and scores of schools closed or moved to online instruction.Р”Р„ winter storm watch extended from just north of metro Atlanta to Arkansas in the west and Pennsylvania in the north, covering parts of 10 states including Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. With lows predicted in the 20s across a wide area, any precipitation could freeze and make driving difficult.

Parts of Tennessee could get as much as 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow, forecasters said, and northern Mississippi and the Tennessee Valley region of Alabama could receive light snow accumulations. РІР‚СљHopefully, the storm will underdeliver, but it could overdeliver. He declared a state of emergency late Friday, saying the focus of concern was the northern part of Georgia from just above the east-west Interstate 20 route. Brian Kemp said the state was preparing РІР‚Сљto the max' for the blast. The storm, after dipping down into the Southeast through the weekend, was so large it was expected to head into the Northeast while dropping snow, sleet and rain around the densely populated Eastern Seaboard. Snow accumulations could reach 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the highest elevations. The National Weather Service said from 2 inches (5 centimeters) to 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of snow could fall as far south as northeast Georgia from Saturday evening though Sunday, and power outages and travel problems will be made all the worse by an additional coating of ice and winds gusting to 35 mph (56 km/h). РІР‚СљThere is a potential for very dangerous conditions caused by accumulations of ice and snow, which will likely result in power outages across the state,' he said.

Henry McMaster issued an emergency order saying the state would likely feel the effects of the major winter storm starting Sunday morning. There, forecasters predict a quarter-inch (0.6 centimeters) of ice or more on trees and power lines, which could lead to days without electricity. РІР‚СљWeРІР‚в„ўre selling everything you might expect: sleds, but also salt, shovels and firewood,РІР‚Сњ Wagler said from Abbeville Hardware. Trucks prepared to spray a briny mixture on roads to prevent icing across the region, and Travis Wagler said he hadn't seen such a run on supplies at his Abbeville, South Carolina, hardware store in at least two winters.

Atlanta ice storm highway 2014