‘Pretty bad storm’ with ice, wind, outages for parts of SC, Gov. McMaster warns
Some areas of South Carolina may be without power for three to four days as hazardous winter weather hits, Gov. Henry McMaster said in a news conference Saturday at the state’s Emergency Management Division headquarters.
“This is going to be a pretty bad storm in the upper part of the state,” McMaster said. “We know the power is going to go out, and it may stay out” for a few days.
He outlined an area between Anderson County and Rock Hill for the worst impacts.
A forecaster at the news conference backed up what McMaster said about outages.
National Weather Service Meteorologist John Quagliariello said power may be out in some areas for days.
The greatest ice accumulation will be in the Upstate and northern Midlands, he said. Strong winds of 25 to 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 40 miles per hour will likely bring down trees in those areas. Areas of the Upstate along Interstate 85 could get up to 2 inches of snow, while the South Carolina mountains could see up to 8 inches
In the Columbia area, freezing rain may only last a few hours, but that is likely long enough to bring down trees, limbs and power lines, Quagliariello said.
The ice, snow and winter weather will last through Sunday but should clear out by Monday, forecasters said. Ice could still be around on Monday. But a change in temperature of only a couple degrees could alter the weather and forecasters’ predictions, Quagliariello said.
An official with South Carolina utility regulators said they have been working with power companies to ensure they can handle the storm.
But multiple officials with state agencies emphasized that power will go out and will likely remain out for hours to days for some residents.
Late Friday afternoon, McMaster declared a state of emergency for South Carolina.
In declaring the emergency, McMaster acknowledged a “potential for very dangerous conditions caused by accumulations of ice and snow, which will likely result in power outages across the state.”
“I urge South Carolinians to monitor their local weather forecasts and begin taking safety precautions,” he said.
Some Midlands counties north of Interstate 20 will have “nearly impossible road conditions” on Sunday, forecasters said.
In addition to ice, “it’s the trees and limbs we are expecting to come down” and close roads, said Christy Hall, director of the state Department of Transportation. Hall noted the state has a new fleet of 62 wrecker vehicles prepared to respond to incidents on roadways.
The transportation department also has some 60,000 tons of salt and 1,100 pieces of equipment ready to respond to the storm, Hall said. Crews applied salt brine to key roadways earlier this week in preparation for the storm, Hall said.
Forecasters “are concerned” about road conditions in Richland and Lexington counties, including the Columbia area, on Sunday and Monday.
In the latest forecast, meteorologists haven’t changed a winter weather advisory for Columbia, Lexington and most of the Midlands counties south of Interstate 20 as of Saturday afternoon. Those areas could see freezing rain.
But counties north of I-20, including Newberry, Fairfield and Kershaw are expected to get ice storms. The National Weather Service still have an ice storm warning for those areas as of Saturday afternoon.
Snow is expected in most of the Upstate but counties including Laurens, McCormick, Edgefield and Union are under the ice storm warning.
This story was originally published January 15, 2022 at 3:56 PM.