High winds and snow forecasted to impact areas of the mountains through early Wednesday morning may cause driving conditions to become hazardous. The N.C. Department of Transportation urges motorists to use caution if they must travel as they navigate the roads and keep an eye out for downed trees and powerlines.

NCDOT maintenance crews are monitoring road conditions and are responding as needed. Crews have conducted dry runs to familiarize themselves with plow routes and have ensured that all snow removal equipment is calibrated and working properly. Temperatures across the region are warm enough that most roads have not been pre-treated, but salt brine has been laid on Interstate 40 in Haywood County.


(Beech Mountain Ski Resort's web cam)

Public-service announcement

from the N.C. Department of Transportation
The department urges motorists who must travel during the storm to follow these important safety tips:

• Clear windows and mirrors;

• Reduce speed and leave plenty of room between you and other vehicles;
• Maintain a safe following distance behind brine application trucks, and plow and spreader trucks;
• Bridges and overpasses accumulate first. Approach them with extreme caution and do not apply your brakes while on the bridge;

• If you begin to slide, take your foot off the gas and turn the steering wheel in the direction of the slide. Do not apply the brakes as that will cause further loss of control of the car;

• If you have a cell phone, take it with you; you can contact the Highway Patrol statewide by dialing HP (*47) or the county emergency center by calling 911; and

• Come to a complete stop or yield the right of way when approaching an intersection where traffic lights are out. Treat this scenario as a four-way stop.

For real-time travel information at any time, call 511, visit http://www.ncdot.gov/travel or follow NCDOT on Twitter at http://www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter.

Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a phone-friendly version of the NCDOT website. To access it, type “m.ncdot.gov” into the browser of your smartphone. Then, bookmark it to save for future reference. NCDOT Mobile is compatible with the iPhone, Android and some newer Blackberry phones.