Snow falls across the Upstate, freezing rain and more snow expected

Upstate South Carolina was hit with at least 3 inches of snow in the early hours Sunday, with winds picking up to 20 mph after daybreak.

Parts of northern Greenville County were reporting as much as 8 inches of snow.

Small areas of western North Carolina and northeast South Carolina were without power early Sunday, with Duke Energy reporting it could get worse as snow turned to sleet and freezing rain.

The South Carolina Emergency Management Division reported power was out to 56,000 homes and business across the state as of 9:25 a.m. Sunday.

A Duke news release about noon said 67,000 customers were without power with more expected as the storm continued. That number had grown to more than 86,000 Sunday afternoon.

They said there were outages for 27,000 customers in North Carolina and 40,000 in South Carolina.

South Carolina’s hardest hit counties for power outages so far were Anderson, Darlington, Florence, Greenville, Greenwood, Kershaw, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg and Sumter, the company said .

In North Carolina, it was Gaston, Jackson, Macon and Swain.

Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy Carolinas storm director, said crews were ready to deploy once conditions were safe. Icy roads and strong winds were delaying the response.

Duke has 11,000 workers – power line technicians, damage assessors and vegetation workers – staged in various locations across the Carolinas.

Duke crews from Florida, Indiana and Ohio – and mutual assistance crews from other companies in Canada, Texas, Arizona, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Oklahoma and other states – will assist in the recovery

Temperatures in the Upstate never strayed above the 20s by noontime.

The forecast called for sleet and freezing rain turning back to snow later Sunday and tapering off during the night.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported roads were icy and asked people to stay home.

“Winter is here! Stay at home folks! We don’t want to see any more vehicles on the roadway than there absolutely has to be. Enjoy the snow with family and friends at home,” Trooper Mitch Ridgeway of the South Carolina Highway patrol tweeted Sunday morning.

South Carolina Department of Transportation said trees and power lines likely would fall as the storm progresses.

“Driving conditions are quickly deteriorating as the storm intensifies,” SCDOT said on Twitter..

SCDOT said plowing began around 4 a.m. and roadways were treated with salt/sand and brine before the snow began.

The city of Greenville opened its emergency operations center and early Sunday reported no accidents and a few roads were closed. The biggest problem was stranded motorists, said Beth Brotherton, city of Greenville spokesperson.

She said by 10 a.m., 20 people had spun out on the Church Street bridge in downtown Greenville.

Dozens of flights from Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport were canceled. In Charlotte, more than 1,000 flights were canceled.

At Furman University in northern Greenville County, school officials reported downed trees and limbs and implored students to stay inside.

Many Upstate churches canceled services Sunday morning.

This story was originally published January 16, 2022 at 8:55 AM.