The National Guard personnel will be equipped with Humvees and other four-wheeled drive vehicles, and some Guard personnel will be stationed at potential trouble spots along interstate highways, Cooper said.
The storm will bring a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to Forsyth and Guilford counties, the weather service said.
In the Triad, snow will accumulate up to 3 inches, and ice will accumulate two tenths to three tenths of an inch, the weather service said. Winds will gust as high as 40 mph.
However, Nick Petro, a warning coordination meteorologist for the weather service in Raleigh, said Saturday that the storm likely will bring ¼ to ½ inch of ice accumulation to the Triad.
“We have increased our ice amounts across the western North Carolina, including the northwestern Piedmont,” Petro said. “It looks less snow, and more freezing rain. That’s bad news.”
In the northwestern counties and foothills, snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches are expected, the weather service said. Ice accumulations of 0.25 to 0.50 inches are expected in this region as well.
Power outages and tree damage are likely because of the ice and gusty winds, the weather service said.
