UPDATED, Thursday 7 p.m.
With the impending weather forecasted late this evening and through Friday, Currituck County Schools will be closed to students Friday, January 21, 2022. Staff will be operating under Option 1 on Friday January 21st.
UPDATED, Thursday 2:45 p.m.
In advance of winter weather forecast overnight, the North Carolina Ferry System is canceling all ferry departures scheduled for Friday morning before 7 a.m.
The delay will allow ferry and road crews to assess travel conditions on a route-by-route basis. Each individual ferry terminal will then decide whether it is safe to operate the remainder of the day.
Passengers wishing to travel on any ferry route over the weekend should check their route’s Twitter feed or call the terminal before heading to the ferry.
Southport-Fort Fisher: @NCFerrySPort, (910) 477-5200
Cedar Island-Ocracoke: @NCFerryPamSound, (252) 463-7040
Swan Quarter-Ocracoke: @NCFerryPamSound, (252) 791-3300
Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach: @NCFerryCHBranch, (252) 463-7000
Bayview-Aurora: @NCFerryPamRiver, (252) 964-4521
Hatteras-Ocracoke: @NCFerryHatteras, (252) 996-6000
Currituck-Knotts Island: @NCFerryCTuck, (252) 621-6300
For real-time travel information, visit DriveNC.gov or follow NCDOT on social media.
UPDATED, Thursday 1:30 p.m.: Due to the current winter storm forecast, Dare County Schools will be closed tomorrow, Friday, January 21, for all staff and students.
High school students are reminded that any exam scheduled for Friday, January 21 will now be given on Wednesday, January 26. Please contact your teacher for more information.
EARLIER STORY:
A significant winter storm is going to impact all of eastern North Carolina starting late Thursday, and at least part of the Outer Banks may very well get accumulating snow before the system departs on Saturday.
Precipitation will start over the entire area as rain late Thursday from north to south, changing to a wintry mix and then possibly all snow into the overnight hours north of the Albemarle Sound.
There will be a break in the precipitation before it resumes later Friday as a mix of ran, freezing rain, sleet and snow over inland sections, then a shift to all snow for everyone except Hatteras and Ocracoke islands by Saturday morning.
Snowfall will range from just a coating to four inches south of the Albemarle Sound, but some areas along and north of the Albemarle Sound could get up to 6 inches of snow. That depends on how long it takes for the change over to take place.
On the northern beaches, 1 to 4 inches is possible, with how much increasing as you go from south to north.
There could be some minor soundside flooding along southern Hatteras and Ocracoke Friday night into Saturday with strong northerly winds.
A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for south of the Albemarle Sound, while a Winter Weather Advisory has been posted for the Outer Banks and areas north of the Albemarle Sound. A Winter Storm Watch is also in effect for the border counties into Virginia.
Latest briefing from National Weather Service:
Here is the latest on the winter storm that is expected to bring a wintry mix to areas as far south as South Texas tonight into early Friday, before producing potentially significant ice and snow accumulations across the eastern Carolinas and southeast Virginia on Fri into Sat. pic.twitter.com/hpwrQtq9F4
— NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) January 20, 2022
Once the storm passes, temperatures are forecast to drop into the upper teens to low 20s inland and below freezing along the northern beaches, which means likely refreezing into Sunday morning.
Wednesday evening, Erik Haden at the National Weather Service office in Newport/Morehead City provided the latest briefing:
Stay with the OBX Today Weather Center, Beach 104, Big 94.5 WCMS, 99.1 The Sound and Z 92.3 for all the latest info.
National Weather Service forecast for Nags Head, as of Thursday morning:
