Live Updates: Gov. McMaster declares state of emergency as winter weather hits SC
2 p.m. - Power outages spread due to storm, offices close
While officials warned of power outages later into Friday evening, as of 2 p.m. only around 1,400 homes, or less than 1% of the state, were without power. The largest amount of homes without power, at over 500 homes, was concentrated in Lexington County. Only one home was without power in Richland.
Meanwhile, Prisma Health, which operates hospitals and doctors’ practices across the Midlands, has closed all of its medical practices as of noon, Prisma Health said in a news release. Its hospitals remain open.
1:03 p.m. - Governor declares state of emergency
Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency for South Carolina Friday afternoon.
”Our state’s emergency teams are fully prepared, and this State of Emergency will provide them additional support to respond to the winter weather moving across our state,” McMaster said in a statement.
The state’s public safety department urged people to avoid unnecessary travel. The S.C. Department of Transportation began preparing roads and highways for the winter weather Wednesday and will have staff and equipment set up around the state, the governor’s office said in a press release Friday.
”We’ve faced snow and ice storms in the past, and we are fully prepared to respond to any requests for assistance from our local emergency managers,” Kim Stenson, director of the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, said.
12:02 p.m. - Weather exceeds expectations
At an 11 a.m. briefing, the National Weather Service gave an update to conditions expected along parts of the Interstate 20 corridor and further north, as meteorologists anticipate roads in those areas could exceed a quarter inch of ice.
The initial sleet and snowfall in Columbia and surrounding areas was more than NWS initially predicted.
“We knew we were going to have an impactful winter weather event. This initial batch earlier this morning wasn’t expected to be quite as intense as it is,” John Quagliariello, a meterologist for NWS in Columbia, said at a briefing Friday morning.
The change in the forecast was due to two main factors: higher amounts of precipitation than expected and below freezing temperatures, Quagilariello explained.
As anticipated, road conditions are expected to worsen throughout Friday afternoon and into the evening as a wintry mix continues to fall. Meterologists predict the sleet will turn to rain as temperatures warm above freezing Saturday morning. As of 10:30 a.m. Friday, most of the sleet and snowfall for the Aiken and Augusta area had already occurred and was set to move into the Columbia area in the afternoon.
12 p.m. - Buses to stop running across Midlands this evening
The COMET bus system has announced it will suspend transit operations by 4 p.m. due to the winter weather.
The bus service will stop running its routes including the USC transit system at that time because of expected poor conditions, the COMET said in a news release.
Routes will continue to operate as normal until that time. Pickups for the inclement weather center will begin at 2 p.m. at Main and Calhoun. The last outbound trips will leave the COMET’s downtown hub at 4 p.m.
COMET services will also operate on a two-hour delay on Saturday, with a projected start time of 7 a.m.
11 a.m. - Government offices close, airport stays open
In addition to local school districts, other closings are rolling in across the Midlands.
Government offices in Richland and Lexington counties are closing at noon Friday by order of S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster. The University of South Carolina will also close its Columbia campus at noon.
The Richland Library closed all its locations at 10:30 a.m. Friday and says it will remain closed until 2 p.m. Saturday. The State Museum is also closed Friday and will reopen at noon Saturday.
The Columbia Metropolitan Airport is operating as normal Friday, but encourages flyers to check the status of their flight in case it changes.
10:20 a.m. - Warnings in effect across the Midlands
A winter storm warning has gone into effect for 15 Midlands counties as low temperatures and frosty weather roll over South Carolina.
The warning, issued by the National Weather Service, will be in effect until 7 a.m. Saturday. It covers Aiken, Calhoun, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Edgefield, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lee, Lexington, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda and Sumter counties.
Sleeting has already begun in parts of Richland County, and snow was reported in Lexington County early Friday.
Icing on roads and power outages are possible as the storm is expected to pick up in intensity throughout the day Friday and last into the early hours of Saturday morning. The National Weather Service urged extreme caution if you are traveling north of Interstate 20, including Interstates 26 and 77.
Midlands schools districts have moved up their departure times for Friday, with schools in Richland County dismissing all students by noon. Lexington 1 school district sent a text to parents Friday that its dismissal times would move up 30 minutes earlier than previously expected, with all schools now out by 12:15 p.m.
Pleasant Hill Elementary School posted video Friday morning of students playing in the snow as it fell in Lexington.
This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 10:27 AM.
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