Rare snowstorm slams SC coast, spares Columbia

A rare and serious snow and ice storm gridlocked some parts of South Carolina Wednesday, although the Columbia area got just a few flurries in the afternoon.

While the coast endured a day of ice and several inches of snowfall, the Columbia area saw less than an inch of snow fall over about an hour, the capital city’s first snowfall of the season. Flakes were reported at Columbia Metropolitan Airport shortly after 2 p.m.

Local schools, attractions and government offices closed out of caution. All public schools in Richland and Lexington counties that had reopened after the winter holidays closed early, as did the University of South Carolina.

The weather system traveled up the U.S. east coast, bringing measurable snow (one-tenth of an inch) to Tallahassee, Fla., for the first time in nearly 30 years, the Weather Channel reported. Farther north, parts of the North Carolina and Virginia coast were warned of blizzard conditions.

Some communities south and east of Columbia, including Orangeburg and Sumter, saw considerably more snowfall than the capital city and some accumulation. The National Weather Service said widespread reports of 2 to 4 inches of snow came in from Orangeburg through Charleston.

In the Lowcountry, snow started falling before noon in Beaufort County at the southern tip of the state, where residents expected up to six inches of snow and sleet in some areas by Wednesday evening. The National Weather Service said up to 6 inches of snow fell north of Charleston in Summerville.

As the storm continued to move up the coast throughout Wednesday afternoon, the Myrtle Beach area braced for up to four inches of snow and ice accumulation.

Snow and ice shut down not only schools and businesses, but numerous bridges and roads along the coast, including portions of the heavily traveled Interstate 526 in Charleston.

Thousands of coastal residents lost power, according to SCE&G outage reports. Santee Cooper reported few outages, while the Berkeley Electric Cooperative said 650 customers were without power about 4:30 p.m.

Icy roads caused problems for some Lowcountry drivers in the morning hours before the snow even hit, with multiple wrecks reported and even a Bluffton police car sliding off one roadway, the Island Packet of Hilton Head reported.

In Hanahan, a Berkeley County paramedic was hurt by a sliding fire truck, the Post and Courier reported.

Even once the snow melts, ice could remain a serious problem for drivers the rest of the week.

Unseasonably cold temperatures will remain through the week, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston. Some melting during daylight hours on Thursday and Friday will be followed by subfreezing temperatures at night.

In the Midlands, the morning low on Thursday is predicted to be 23 degrees. Through Saturday, the highs are expected to be around 40 with lows in the upper teens.

This story was originally published January 3, 2018 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Rare snowstorm slams SC coast, spares Columbia."