ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 6pm - January 31, 2026

Episode Date: February 1, 2026

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Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, investigating new information tonight, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. And right now on eyewitness news, a winter wall up for us here in North Carolina. Today, snow falling pretty steadily across nearly every part of the state making driving conditions very hazardous. We have crews on the road right now in Wake, Durham, Cumberland, and person counties keeping a close eye on the condition. across our viewing area. We know if you're in that dry slot waiting for snow from the sand hills up to Wake County. It should be closing in.

Snow could be on the way. We're tracking it all for you. We're glad you're joining us on this first alert day. I'm Steve Daniels. And I'm Lauren Johnson at this hour. Despite the dangerous conditions on the roads, we are happy to report no fatal wrecks have been reported. We do know an 11-year-old boy fell through the ice at Womble Park.

But thanks to the heroic actions of a Holly Springs police officer, that boy is safe and unharmed. And as the conditions because of the snow that's falling, you to worsen across central North Carolina. We have live team coverage across the viewing area in Durham, Orange, and Nash counties and at the RDEA airport as well. We'll check in with our reporters throughout this newscast, but let's begin here with chief meteorologist Don Schwecker, Schweniker tracking the snow's path. Don, on this first alert day, you are tracking the merging of those two systems. What you described as the upper level low to the west, the coastal system there on the right side. How are they coming? Coming together. Steve, you got it down. I'm glad someone was paying

attention. Yeah. Now, what we're seeing down here is, so here's the low on the coast. It's getting stronger. The upper level low that was coming out of the west is starting to transfer its energy to this low. And that's going to make that low even stronger. Look down here. This is what we're watching now. This is all moisture over the ocean. This is going to get pulled up into that dry slot. So we're not done with the snow yet. I know it came later in spots that advertised, but we still have a good at least five to six hours of snow chances. across the region. So even if you haven't seen any, just wait, you still have the chance to see some as this fills in. Now let's talk about what we're seeing as far as watches, warnings, and advisories across the area. We are seeing a winter store morning right now, in effect, across the entire viewing area. That runs until tomorrow morning. The only county, not under that winter store morning, is right up here. You are in a winter weather advisory in Mecklenburg County. We have a extreme cold warning. We haven't had one of these before. It's a newer warning from the National Weather Service. It replaced the old windshield advisories and things like they had,

things they had before. Extreme cold warning means we will see temperature zero to five below tomorrow morning between 1 a.m. and 10 a.m. So frostbite can actually happen faster. If your kids go out to play in the snow tomorrow morning, make sure to cover their exposed skin. We see a cold weather advisory all day on Saturday. That's started this morning. It continues until midnight tonight with those feels like temperatures right around the single digits. We're taking a live look here on our camera into Durham and you can see there's one lane of traffic. Some folks are over here trying to make their way in the unplowed lane. Not a good idea. Let the plows take their time and do what needs to be done. But that's the snow flying in Durham. We head from there to a live look

out at RDU. And this has been bouncing around. We've seen when gust 20 to 30 miles an hour. There is another one of those gusts coming through. Snow on the tarmac, but really not too bad. It's been about an inch out there so far. Now here's the gap filling in, and this is over the last hour. Watch up around Wake Forest. It's dry at the start right there, and then that gap starts to fill in, and that's the moisture coming together from these two systems. We'll continue to see it coming together over the next couple of hours, and that will bring snow. They might see flurries right now in Raleigh. You will see snow. At 635, I'm going to go out on the limit to say by 8 o'clock. It's snowing in downtown Raleigh. So there you go. And that's

saying something because that dry slot's been hanging around today. Down here in Fayetteville, you're not seeing any snow downtown right now, but this is pressing due north. So you've got a shot at seeing some snowflakes fly next 15 minutes or so. And if we zoom this out, that gap continues to fill in. I know. I had a viewer right me from Samson County. And they said, we're just not seeing anything down here. You're right. You've been stuck in that dry slot all day, but there's so much moisture coming off the ocean. That will work into your region as we head through the next couple of hours. The other thing I want to mention real quick that feels like temperatures. If you're out and about tonight, it is cold. We don't usually see feels like temperatures in the single digits,

let alone around zero. So just know what that means to you is your skin can freeze faster. You want to make sure and cover exposed skin because frostbite could become a problem through the overnight. Now as we hit into Monday and Tuesday, high pressure builds in the sunshine returns. And we'll talk more about that and a first alert to what's going on around the region, plus a couple of viewer picks that are really cool. Meteorologist Cruz Medina and I will have that coming up for you in just a couple of minutes, guys. Okay, that's a wild change to see there, Don, the moisture coming up from the ocean you're describing, really filling in that dry slot right now. Okay, something to track in the hours ahead. Thank you. And right now at six, here's a live look at

a snowy downtown Durham. Durham's five white flag shelters are open for anyone who needs a warm place. to stay tonight. Trayvon Miles has been out wandering around on 9th Street meeting some brave souls out in Durham. He's going to tell us about the conditions there now. Tray, I can see the snow is still falling. Yeah, Lauren, it's it's been falling this way for quite a while, quite aggressive. You know, we've been out here on 9th Street for quite some time. We've seen these parking lots in these streets go from clean to completely covered the way they are. This area is typically booming on a Saturday night. Obviously, it's not your average weekend. We caught it with some students a little bit earlier as they were walking around this area. A few of them had very mixed emotions about how this weather made its way into this area.

North Carolina freaks out about snow, man, but it's great. I'm having a great time. I love the snow. Worst part is it's been canceled on, we got the snow on the Friday, the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, school back to normal. I'll tell you right now, if we got four inches of snow in New Hampshire, life of go on as normal. Shovel off the car. But how different is it here than adjusting? Well, I wanted to go to school in North Carolina because I thought there'd be sunny year round. So I guess I was wrong about that. Little did he know, right, guys, I just want to show you a really quick depiction of what we're

dealing with right now. We had ice last week. Now we're dealing with snow on top of that. That's why you can see, you can see just off of that small picture right there, just how dangerous these streets could get tonight. That's why city officials have been urging residents to stay off the roads so they can get emergency personnel and that type of equipment around if they need big guys. Trey, your friend didn't come far enough south, right? That's right. He thought he's going to be sunny all the time.

The kids from New Hampshire going to do you. He got swindled coming to North Carolina. Great education, weather. Hey, Trey, are many restaurants there on 9th Street open? You're right there by the Panera and the Chipotle. Lots of good stuff on that stretch of night street. Yeah, that's a really good question, Steve. All of these restaurants are still over.

from what I'm understanding. The Panera brand, from what I do understand, is getting ready to close a couple hours early. So you are seeing some businesses begin to adjust their hours here in this area. You want that soup bowl? Yeah, hurry. I think it's got to get the soup right now.

Don't get that soup, Trey. All right, thank you. Ninth Street in Durham. Trey, thank you very much. All right, let's head to Southern Durham and the South Point area right now. DeWan Hoggard monitoring the conditions there. Hi, Dewan.

Well, good evening to you, Lauren. I've had a chance. I'll go in a minute. had a chance to go on social media, Facebook, Instagram, and listen to a lot of my friends and other viewers who are in Raleigh in that dry spot, really upset that they are looking outside and seeing much of nothing. Well, if you're looking for that winter wonderland, you actually have to come out here to Durham. We're just right across the street here from streets at South Point Mall. And you can certainly see, look, if your wish was for a winter wonderland,

this is where it's said. A lot of folks, of course, staying home, where it's warm, outside of the, just away from the elements. However, there are a few folks outside. walking their dogs, hanging out with their children, just kind of here and there. Not a whole lot of traffic here on Fayetteville Street along the mall. Within the past 15, 20 minutes or so, did see a couple of snow plows that make their way right here through the street doing their best to kind of clear the roads. And most folks are obeying the speed limit right now. It's about 45 miles an hour.

It's a speed limit out here. But of course, with this snow out here, with this ice here on the ground, of course you want to take it a lot slower, kind of just as this Mercedes is passing us here. So you just kind of get an idea. They're picking up speed, but see the back of that vehicle there, just doing a small little bit of a fish tail. That's why the speed limit you see here, you want to go ahead and go much lower than that. But earlier, a couple hours earlier, I had a chance to talk to a family, the child's family.

Mom Kirsten was out sledding with daughter Lydia, her son Caleb, and I had a chance to just kind of peek in on them, talk to them a little bit about how they're enjoying this Saturday. I want to go and play some of that conversation with you that we're going to. had. Take a listen. This is much better than the ice, right? Yeah. What do you guys think? Better than the ice. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. It's good to get a snow every once in a while. How fast were you going down that hill? I know that you were maneuvering everything. Yeah. I was going really fast about 15 miles per hour and it was really fun. All right. How long have you been doing this? About for 12 minutes. Yeah, a very specific 12 minutes. I was expecting Caleb to, you know, say several months, a couple of years, not a very precise 12 minutes, let alone how he was able to maneuver down that hill with his younger sister, Lydia, there, and say 15 miles an hour was as fast as he was going.

But that's what you would like to see, at least for kids that age. I mean, last weekend, they're a little bit disappointed with that ice, weren't able to do what they're doing right now. But they're happy with what he said that they were doing. I said, hey, what else do you want for the rest of the day? He said, more snow, more fun, and then mom chimed in to include hot chocolate at that. as well. So this is the conditions here in Southern Dorm, right across the street from the mall. You see this truck here passing me as well. Again, if you don't have to be out here, folks,

just by all means, stay home, stay dry, stay warm as well. Live in Durham, Dwan Hogarth, a Biss 11, Iowa News. Yeah, I think Caleb and all the kids where there's snow really appreciate this much more than last weekend when they were trying to do something without ice and there was no fun to be had. No fun. They had to get creative, snowboards and trash bags and all the things. DeWan Hoggard, Thank you. I want to interrupt our programming with some very important news. John Dowding has just rode into the team. Snow is falling in Raleigh. Finally.

That dry slots filling in. Yes. We're getting some snow. We'll check in with him in just a bit. All right, with all this light, fluffy snow blowing around the air, just making for some very dangerous driving conditions. Yeah, Elena Athens has been cruising around in one of our storm chaser vehicles. She is in Chapel Hill.

She's been out walking around on Franklin Street, driving around the area. How are things looking right now, Elena? I'm doing all the things. I'm doing all the things. Back in Storm Chaser right now, we are getting onto 15501. Let me take you outside, give you a live look right now at conditions. You can see that there is still some snow. So welcome to the party, John and the city of Raleigh.

We've been dealing with this snowfall for hours now. Right now we are, as I said, getting on to 15501, leaving the downtown Chapel Hill area. Not too many cars on the road, but a few. and you don't really see so many lines in the road where it kind of makes it easier for you if you if you do have to drive in this to kind of stay within those lines where you know that people have gone and traveled before you so this is what the roads mostly look like that blanketed snow that is covering the roadways earlier when we were in Chapel Hill I you know did get out and walk a little bit it's slushy in parts just depends on how many people are kind of hitting those roadways but in in downtown Chapel Hill It was slushy there in some areas. And they were doing a really good job, I have to say, of having those plows out, not only removing snow on the roadway itself, but also on the sidewalks.

They had a totally different piece of equipment that sort of had brushes that were moving about and tossing some of the snow from the sidewalks over so people could walk around. And as we showed you half hour ago, lots of people out in Chapel Hill. Many of them are students. They didn't really need to be driving into Franklin Street to kind of patronize some of the spots over there. A lot of them were walking from their respective dorms or spots close to off campus, a little bit off campus. So they were able to head into the downtown area and hit up one of the few spots that we found that were open. Even the target was open over there along Franklin Street. So a lot of options for UNC students who have been cooped up for the second weekend, much like others in the area. But where are we are right now, things are looking okay. Again, our speed is down. We're only going about 30 miles per hour, which is far less than we ordinarily would if there wasn't this wintry weather that we had before us. But things are looking okay right now. We did get an update not so long ago from the town of Chapel Hill on kind of where things stand right now. We know they reiterated that they wanted people off the roads

as this kind of tapers off the snow because they're going to continue to have those crews out trying to remove the snow and hopefully bring this area back to normal as soon as possible. Of note from the town, Chappahill, they did say that service on the transit lines are going to be delayed until at least 11 a.m. tomorrow, so Sunday, February 1st. Tomorrow also, all parks and recreations buildings will be closed, and the public library that will be closed as well. So, you know, the town is doing what it can to get the road. and facilities back open and running again.

But for now, again, asking people to stay off the roads. As we are giving you this live look, you'll see not too many people are out here, a few. As we continue to travel down 15501, so I'll send it back to you guys in studio. All right, Elena Athens. Thank you. All right.

I know if you live in Raleigh and Wake County, you have been wondering, where's the snow? There were some flakes that were flying earlier in the day in Raleigh and Wake County. then it dried on it. Because you've been in that dry slot, but things are changing. So I want to show you live down. This is our rooftop camera at our downtown Raleigh Newsroom right there on Fayetteville Street.

And you can see we're looking down toward the Performing Arts Center right there. And if you look closely, you can see there are some flakes flying through the air. That's picked up on radar right now. We're seeing it there too. So as Don was describing, there's this moisture from the coast that's now filling in that gap. He says in and around Raleigh, County in that dry slot, we could expect snow probably until 10 or 11 o'clock tonight. And he says in the next hour, Don's putting money on it.

By 8 o'clock, there'll be some snow definitely there in Raleigh. John Dowding is our reporter outside our newsroom in downtown Raleigh. He'll be checking in with us coming up after this break. I know a lot of people will be happy. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. All right. We have more news coming up after the break as well.

That's right. as we head to break alive, look at the roads in the sandhills. We'll check in there and see what's happening. We'll be right back. The secret to Charlotte Cardin's captivating eyes? Panorama Mascara by L'Oreal Paris. The multi-level bristle brush catches every lash from inner to outer corner. For panoramic volume with lashes that are so fanned out, eyes appear 1.4 times bigger.

See life in panorama because you're worth it. Shop L'Oreal Paris Panorama Mascara on Amazon now. Did you know that Staples Professional can tailor a custom program to make running your business easy? With a Staples Professional account, you get one vendor, one delivery, and one invoice for all your must-haves. From tech to cleaning supplies and dedicated support from Staples experts who guide you on everything, from product selection and ordering to payment. Join today at staplesprofessional.ca and get expert solutions tailored to your business. That was easy. We are back here on this first alert day covering the winter storm that's moving through the area.

And fortunately, this storm, this weekend is very different from last weekend storm, when there was so much concerned about freezing rain and power outages. And Duke Energy did an amazing job bringing thousands of people in from other states here to stand by in case we had widespread power outages, which thankfully we did not have. This storm is a very different dynamic in terms of the concern about power outages. Yeah, let's talk to Jeff Brooks with Duke Energy to tell us more about what the big concerns are tonight at this hour. Hi, thanks for having me. Yeah, you're right. You mentioned, Steve, that the weather is a little different. With the fluffy snow, we don't have as many accumulated outages as you would see during a freezing rain ice event. We've only got about 4,000 customers out across the state. But there are a few hundred Johnston County, Chatham, areas like that, even over to Wayne County. So we're starting to see some of these small outages pop up. We expected that. We would see some scattered outages. But at this point, nothing wise. widespread and we're not really anticipating that except say for places where some of the stronger wind gusts might come through.

That could create a few outages overnight as well. And Jeff, there has been a lot of concern. You talk about the wind gusts. It is gusting 20, 30 miles an hour in the triangle right now. But you've been really concerned about the outer banks as well. I know a lot of that coverage area is Dominion Energy, not really your geography. But what are you hearing from coastal communities right now? Well, you know, the coastal communities are fortunately engineered a little differently because of hurricanes and tropical weather, but they've certainly seen very windy conditions down there.

We have seen some outages, Pender County and some of the areas down closer to Wilmington. And we expect that will continue as long as those strong winds are there. When it gets above about 20 to 30 miles per hour, if you've got some saturation on the ground, that can bring trees down. It also creates some complication for our crews if they have to go out and restore power. winds are above 29 miles per hour we can't raise our buckets so even if we're dealing with some small outages we could have some potential delays because of that or road conditions as we go out to restore Jeff I know the colder it is outside the harder it is for the heating systems to keep up with it I just talked to Don and Cruz 14 degrees in Oxford 16 degrees in Durham right now what does that

mean for families that are probably going to try to crank the heat tonight to stay warm well we are expecting that and we have seen usage increase we're going to see some pretty cold days for the next two days in particular. So that'll put a lot of requirements on the grid and we're working to meet that requirement right now. We're able to reliably meet those needs. If that changes, we'll certainly let people know, but we have a lot of tools at our disposal.

We're gonna do everything we can to help people stay warm. But obviously, you know, this is also a time of year where you can take those small steps to save money on your bill because we're using a lot of electricity as customers. And Jeff, when you talk about the tools at your disposal to help with the grid when there's a strong on the grid. Does that mean bringing power in from other states? That's part of it. Yes, we actually have protocols that allow us to purchase power,

bring it in from three directions into North Carolina, and that really helps. We have permissions allowing us to use our power plants to the maximum if we need to during periods like this. We've gotten permission from the Department of Energy for that. And we've also got demand response programs, programs that help manage use on the grid, either voluntary programs or programs that we can do that can help help. to squeeze out even more megawatts so that we can meet those needs when temperatures are super cold. And Jeff, there's also programs for people to take advantage of throughout the year to keep those bills as low as possible. We know people always dread having those super high energy bills.

That's right. You know, this is the time of year when small steps can make a big difference, but there's things you can do year around. We have our home energy house call program that can help you develop a plan for, you know, how you can reduce energy. We have a lot of online tools and little reports that we send out that give you tips. And of course, there's simple things you can do. I mean, starting at your thermostat that can really add up to save you big on your bill, especially when you're talking about five to ten days where we're hovering right at freezing or below. Jeff, it's always really interesting to talk to you.

I think we all take for granted that the lights are on, the powers on. Everything's running just fine. And then you talk about how strategic things are like this, getting through a storm. And I know the summertime is the same way whenever there's strain on the grid. And it's always fun to talk to you and learn so much more about this stuff that's happening. behind the scenes we have no ideas happening. I know. Yeah.

An army of people working behind the scenes to keep us all warm and safe. Jeff Brooks with Duke Energy, Jeff, thank you. Yeah, Jeff, we'll see you soon. Thanks very much. Okay, let's check in on things in downtown Raleigh, because as we mentioned, we're seeing some flakes flying right now on our rooftop camera at our downtown Raleigh Newsroom on Fayetteville Street. It's been a long wait for people in Raleigh and Wake County wondering,

is it coming? I know. And when is that dry slot going to fill in? John Dowding's scientific description of it was, it's falling very lightly. So he wants to make sure people knows it's no huge snowfall, you're right, John? Yeah, it's not the North Pole or the South Pole. You don't have to worry about that,

but the snow is very lightly coming down. I was trying to catch it on my gloves so you can see here. Again, really little flakes. At first we thought it was flurries, but now it's been consistently coming down here in downtown Raleigh. Right now, we're on the Boylan Bridge

with my favorite shot of the city here. And you're starting to see some of that snow come down here. Again, it's really light. The wind isn't whipping the flakes around. It's really just starting to come down very gently. You can kind of see right here on the side of the bridge here, just the little accumulation, some light covering of the snow on here. I mean, like you can kind of brush it off like that if you can see like that on air right now.

So again, the snow just coming down. It's again, it's so light. It's not coating the roads. It's not coating anything. But as the night goes on, as the temperatures drop even more, that's when we can start to see that accumulation, not just on the roads and the sidewalks, but everywhere here downtown. Again, we're going to go back to some of the spots we were at earlier where we had absolutely nothing coming down to see what it's looking like as the night goes on and as those snowflakes continue to come down.

I actually just spoke with somebody who was walking by here. A guy visiting here from Boston, he said he thought when he was coming down to North Carolina, his friends told him, oh, it's usually in the 50s and 60s down here. And now here it is in the teens with snow coming down. And he had some important advice for anybody going out on the road. If the driving in the next few days, just, you know, drive extra carefully, drive slowly. don't try to make quick turns and things like that as well. But again, the snow starting to slightly, just very gently, slowly coming down here in downtown Raleigh. We'll have another update of the conditions here later on throughout this entire newscasts

and on our streaming. Back to you guys. And, you know, John, you're in a split screen right now. We've got our Fayetteville Street camera there above our downtown Raleigh newsroom. And it's really getting knocked around. It's really blowing. Don says gusts are up to roughly 30 miles an hour at the airport right now, which is driving down those already chilly temperatures in the teams. That's the wind chill we're feeling.

Are you feeling a breeze where you are on the Boyland Bridge? On the bridge? No. Crazy enough. When we were on Glenwood Avenue earlier, that's where we felt a lot of those wind gusts. The second we went in downtown, obviously, when you're amongst all the big buildings, it kind of blocks you from the wind. Funny enough, though, here on the Boyland Bridge, where it's completely open, we feel no wind gusts at all right now. But downtown, I guess maybe the wind has picked up since we were last there. But again, really Glenwood was where we felt a lot of that wind whiffing things around here. So we're going to go drive by around again, take a look at the conditions, and we'll have some updates. All right. I thought John was going to start telling us a joke.

A man from Boston and a Jersey, meet on a bridge in North Carolina. I didn't know where it was going to go. Look, I'll have some jokes later, Lori. Don't worry. We'll be out here all night. I'll have some jokes. We're waiting for the punchline, John. We are.

John Dowding. Thank you. All right, our live team coverage on this first alert day continues next with a live report from Nash County. As we go to break, here's a live look at the roads in Durham covered in snow there. The wipers going. So we know the windshield's not too frozen. We know Patrick Priest had that problem when he was talking about the snow falling and freezing there on the windshield. So a lot of people are seeing very different conditions depending on where they are.

But this is a live look at downtown Durham. With MX Platinum, you have access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide. So your experience before taking. off is a taste of what's to come. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. I was guilty of multiple skin care crimes. Two counts of sleeping and makeup.

One count of using disposable wipes. I knew my routine had to change. So I switched to Garnier-Missler water. It gently cleanses, perfectly removes makeup, and provides 24-hour hydration. Clear away the evidence with the number one Missler Water worldwide by Garnier. The state of emergencies in effect.

Cold weather advisory giving us feels like in the single digits. That's going to put down some pretty impressive totals. Droods right now are just in really, really tough condition. They are urging citizens to stay home. You are watching eyewitness news at 7 on this first alert day as we continue tracking the winter storm moving across North Carolina. And the eastern part of the state is really in the bull's eye of the storm system. They are expecting to see some of the highest snow totals when it's all said and done.

Tom George in Rocky Mount, Tom, how hard is it coming down there now? It's pretty rough. I mean, lucky me, right? Right in the bullseye over here. But yeah, it has been pretty rough here in Rocky Mount. We've been in Nash County, Wiltson County, the last couple of hours. You know, you mentioned that dry slot that we had seen. We were kind of caught in that. I've been around 4 o'clock.

Everything changed. It has just been nonstop ever since our roads have been coated. And right here, you can see this is Main Street, right in downtown, Rocky Mount right where the train goes by. It's picking up. I would say in the last last hour, that's got to be, I would say about two or three inches

right there. So it has not been stopping. And again, we are pretty much the only people that have been out here. Our footprints are the only thing you can see stretching all the way. And that includes the roadway. People are heating that advice

to stay off of the roads. And it's not just the side streets as well. We were driving on I-95 a little bit earlier. Highway 64, obviously I-95, I-95 especially is a main thoroughfare. We had seen the plows already out and about as soon as this happened. But again, all happening very quickly, the wind also not helping. It's blowing that snow around where we are right now.

So that is what we have been seeing, especially in this eastern part of the state. We were kind of caught on that outer band that was the one that was going out more towards the coast. It finally crept up enough that we kind of are now getting the brunt of that. both here and in Wilson. And again, it has still been going on, I would say, the past couple of hours or so, maybe tapered down just a little bit, but obviously enough that I would say about two or three inches have accumulated and doesn't show any signs of stopping as we head into the night. But we're going to keep on watching it, guys, but for now we'll send it back to you.

Yeah, and if you see a few people out, I see a few cars out and around. You talked about the Vietnamese restaurant, the Saigon place there right behind you, that they were going to be open a little while longer. Are you seeing much action there in Rocky Mountain? Not much. Actually, the Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon on Maine, they were the last one standing. They just closed up. The owner said he had to head back to the triangle. So other than that, I don't see pretty much anything open right now. So although when it does reopen, though, being from Maryland, right next to Saigon on Maine, there's a Maryland seafood place. So maybe when the snow stops, I can get some crab cakes at some point. But that'll be cool. That's about it. It's pretty much just me, myself, and I and photoge Matt Morrison, and that's about it. So, yeah, not many people out and about. Can we do a little bit of a snow check? Now, Don told me I asked. And the train. And the train. Okay. I do hear it now. Don said this wasn't going to be.

No, we know. It's literally just as just as you said that, it's starting to go. Okay, there we go. The train's coming through. Don said that the snow was not going to be good enough for snowballs. Tom, is it, is it light and fluffy? Is it like, blow out of your hand thin. Like can you kind of describe this snow for us for people who are staying inside? Let's let's let's see. I haven't tried it just yet, but um yeah that's that's that's not that's not snowball material. That's just dissipate in your hand material. So yeah, don't don't, don't go out if you don't have to. It's not it's not it for snowball fight. Not good for snowball fight. Not good for snowman making. No. But what's interesting about this, it is beautiful to look at. And Don has made this point as well that it can be and Cruz as that because it's blowing around,

it can be a little deceptive to calculate the snow totals in your neighborhood because it's blowing around so much. That is true. Tom's throwing it now at Matt Morrison or us, I guess, maybe. Tom George, thank you. All right. Nice to you from Rocky Mount Tom. Thanks. And, you know, this is the time when we love to see what's happening when you and your family are having a lot of fun.

And we get to see what's happening when you're out and about enjoying the snow. So we've asked for all these pictures, these videos, the dogs, the kids, the sleds. Amber and Barbara are tracking all of the good news and the fun stuff happening out in the snow. They're joining us now to talk about it. Hi, girls. Hey there. Hi. Yeah, we love it.

Send us a selfie. We don't care. We just want to see your picks. So many animal picks as well. So we did ask everybody to send your picks and your video. So we can also just see, you know, how you're enjoying the day. Our viewers are starting to send some fun moments of how they're passing the time today. Yeah, there are people having a lot of fun out there.

there. Check out these dogs in Orange County enjoying the white out in their backyard. Now, this is Girlfriend and Archie. They're from Hillsborough and they're in their coats and they're having a good time. Look at those faces. I'm not sure what to do in the snow. I love the name. Just girlfriend. Girlfriend. And they have their jackets on too. Some kids in Roxborough, as you know, love a great snow day. And boy, that was a place to be today for this. Person County. It was snowing all day. A great day to getting on your pink, your cute pink snow suit and do some snow angels. And we were talking to earlier just about how cute their snow clothes are as well. But just a lot of memories being made, catching some of those flakes right on your tongue. So love seeing it there in person,

County. Yeah, absolutely. And this was the best snow for snow angels. They actually got to get out and make snow angels today last weekend. Not so good for snow angels, but they had a great time. We're also getting photos from families in Hillsborough. Let's take a look at those. Okay. Oh, this is Hillsborough. More families in Hillsborough. Okay, now to Alamance County, the Animal Park at Conservators Center in Burlington,

sharing these photos with us, Hobbs, the Tiger, Skeeta, the Grey Wolf, and Geraldt, the Grey Wolf, all enjoying the snow. So the animals really love it. Love it. So awesome to see. Someone sent us some llamas as well, so we'll try to add that to our little. collection of photos. Listen, we've had a long day.

I'm starting to forget words. I know. A photo quote. You know, all day today, I kept saying, thanks for joining us this Saturday, but it was really just to remind me what day it was. Yeah. And also, I think girlfriend may be one of the best dog names I've heard in a while. Girlfriend, come in here.

Girlfriend, cute. All right, guys, you got it. Here, we're starting to get punchy now because it's been a day. It has been a day. From one girlfriend to a group of girlfriends. Okay, girlfriend. All right, girlfriend. It's not our decision.

But we think you've earned a break. Not our decision. Barpers have two hands up. Steve is in charge. Go home. We'll stay tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep. Have a nice Saturday now.

Ladies, thank you. Thank you. Okay, that was fun to see. Let's take out to the coast right now because we've been telling you that our coastal communities are going to get really hit pretty hard by this. So we're zooming in here.

This is kind of a wild shot. This is the Surf City Pier. This is on Topsoil Island. So, you know, that's the area that straddles Onslow and Peel. counties there on the coast. As we've been telling you through the week, they were expecting not only this really heavy snow, perhaps historic snowfall amounts, but they were also concerned about these really heavy winds, which you see there as well, and that was contributing to

concern about power outages, ocean overwash, all kinds of things. Really pretty wild to see that snow there and the waves right behind there and a little bit of sand too. That's incredible. Yeah. You rarely see it, so it's very incredible to see. Yeah, all right, we're going to take a quick break. And our I would disuse coverage of the winter storm will continue. Actually, we're going to talk to Don right now because... And Cruz. And Cruz.

Look, okay. I just need to look over my shoulder. All right. Yeah, let's talk about what's happening on the coast and this dry slot filling in right now. Coming together. Yeah. Really? And it's been unprecedented to see this happen.

You've been in a little longer and that dry slot's been with us for a while. I remember talking about this at 11 a.m. And saying, just give it a little while and it'll close. It kept saying it, just give it a little while, and it's been a lot of wow. But hey, we're finally here. In 30 years, I've never seen anything like it. I thought, well, maybe it was just me. So I texted Chris Holman, our former chief here, chief meteorologist Chris Holman.

I said, hey, listen, what do you think about this dry slide? Have you ever seen this before? And he goes, I've never seen anything like it. So this is going to be something that's studied for years because it's so unusual how it happened. We're going to talk more about that in just a minute. I got a couple of pictures I pulled two. One of them is the llama picture as requested. They're loving this weather.

This is from Rougemont. Victoria Cal took this out there. And with those long coats, you know they love it. And I got to show you this one. Look at this. This is Kylie Ann's first snow angel. Although you could take away the snow, you'd still have the angels.

So thank you to Pamela Williamson up in Roxborough for sending that in. And I know we get hundreds of these pictures during it, but I got to tell you, as we're working through, we're looking at all the weather data and we're seeing emails coming in and everything like that, Just a picture of a snow angel like that.

Really lightens cruises an idea. So thank you. Keep those pictures coming. ABC11.com forward slash share. All right. We've got a winter storm warning in effect across the region. The only counting not under the warning is Mecklenburg County. They've got a winter weather advisory.

One to three inches up there. The rest of us could see three inches or more. We have a extreme cold warning. This is in effect for tomorrow. 1 a.m. in the morning to 10 a.m. It feels like below zero out there. very cold. Today we're also under a cold weather advisory through midnight. Taking a live look from our camera looking into downtown carry. You can see the snow on the carry camera showing up there.

Winds are calm 19 degrees. We'll go from there to a live lookout at RDEU and the tarmac is completely covered now. North wind at nine, but those gusts have been getting into the 25 to 30 mile at our range. They could actually pick up a little bit more. For more on the radar, what we're seeing out there and a couple more views. viewers picks. Let's head back to meteorologist Cruz Medina. Yeah, we can't get enough of these pictures. This is a kiddo enjoying the snow out in Aberdeen. And in case you're curious, that's out in Moore County. But Tom was showing us just how powdery and fluffy that snow is. You can see that on full display here. So she was able to throw it up in the air. It almost looks like glitter

falling down. And we've seen many other pictures just like this across the region throughout this afternoon and evening. First alert Doppler net. We can finally say that gap has closed over Wake County. So it's been forever in a day is what it's felt like. We've got light snow continuing down to the south of Raleigh as well. It's starting to fill in across parts of Harnett County. If you're down in Cumberland County, Samson County, still got to close that gap for you. But most of us are seeing snow at this point. So let's take a closer look into the triangle from Wake Forest, back to Durham, parts of Orange County, Chatham County, Lee and Moore counties getting in on the snow. Light snow moving into northern Harnet County and Southern Wake. So if you're around Fukuave Arena, you might

be seeing a few flurries in downtown Raleigh, expect that snow to pick up in coverage and intensity here within the next hour to two hours. Along the I-95 corridor from Roanoke Rapids, down to infield, Rocky Mount, and even down into parts of Wayne County. So around Goldsboro and back toward Johnson County, Smithfield, you're seeing the snow as well. And that is moderate snow, I will add. But at the coast, we're watching this hose of moisture coming off the Atlantic. That's going to feed more bands of snow into areas like Cumberland and Samson County. So even though seen the snow shut off for several hours now. Just be prepared for that to pick back up in the next few hours. First alert predictor. This shows that gap closing. Once again, might take another

hour or two. So by eight or nine, I'd expect that to fill in all across the region. Light snow showers continue for most of Central North Carolina, if not all of us as we go into the midnight hour. By then, we'll start to see the back edge of this system pull in. So all of the snow in Southern Virginia has to make its way back down through here as the coastal low that we have off of our coast starts to pull away. So you see that snow takes its time getting out of here by 4 or 5 a.m. Some of our southeastern counties could still be seeing some light flakes. And then by the time you wake up tomorrow, it is going to be very cold, but at least it's dry and it'll still be pretty gusty. So blowing snow will be a concern even as we go into your Sunday.

Don. All right. Thanks, Cruz. And it is very cold out there right now. Look at our feels like temperature zero in Oxford. You don't have it feels like zero. It's five right now in Durham, Raleigh, six in Chapel Hill, Irwin, seven in Fayetteville. We look at our snow potential.

This is total snowfall, two to four inches right through Wake County. Yes, it hasn't snowed much yet, but we still have the potential to pick up the closer to two than four, but we'll keep you in that range. Higher amounts down toward the coast. I just talked to my son down in Pitt County. He teaches fifth grade down in Greenville. He's got eight inches on the ground. right now and they continue to see heavy snow down there. It will work out quickly and then Monday the sunshine is here. Temperatures will clive well above freezing, upper 30s, low 40s, and that will cause things to melt.

So let's give you the forecast for tonight. Those temperatures falling into the teens, the snow will end as we head through midnight and 4 a.m. As Cruz just talked about 15 in Raleigh and Henderson, 18 in Fayetteville. Tomorrow the sunshine returns. Start off with some clouds. Well, in the day under sunny blue skies. It'll look very pretty out the window, but you step up. outside, you get the cold slap in the face from those wind chills and the temperatures will stay below freezing in Raleigh just above freezing during Fayetteville and that's only for an hour or two those high temperatures getting just above freezing. Your seven day forecast. Just show a nice warm up on the way compared to where we are. 31 tomorrow 38 on groundhog day on Monday, Tuesday 46, Wednesday 44. We'll stay in the 40s all the way into Saturday. And even though that is warmer, our normal for this. some of yours is 53. We're not there over the next seven days, guys. Yeah, we'll have some melting potential in the week ahead, but certainly not tomorrow. No, far from it.

All right, Don, thank you. Let's take a live look at our Roxborough camera that's driving there. Look, it looks like it's an out of focus shot because of the conditions there likely. Yeah, the snow's really been piling up. We talked to our friends in Roxburgh earlier today. The snow started falling there last night. They love this, the winter wonderland. What do they tell us?

The three P's should be the only people out on the road. Polar bears. Polar bears. Public safety. And plows. Everyone else, you've got to be home. That's what they're saying in Roxborough tonight. All right, there's a lot of flight cancellations and delays at the RDU airport.

So many people impacted. We're hearing their stories. We're checking in with reporter Diane Wilson at RDU coming up right after this break. Everyone needs help with something. If investing is your something, we get it. Cooperators' financial representatives are. here to help with genuine advice that puts your needs first. We got you. For all your holistic investment and life insurance advice needs, talk to us today. Co-operators, investing in your future

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Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. We are back now with some breaking news on this first alert day in the Charlotte area. I 95 near Canapolis is shut down right now and there are 100 people who are stuck there. They're stranded after a wreck happened. The National Guard is actually being deployed there to I-85 in Canapolis to try to rescue those people, get the highway reopened and get people moving again. As we've been hearing through the evening, there have been a lot of crashes and problems between the triad west to the Charlotte area through the day today.

We understand that it happened in the northbound lanes. It was a traffic incident there, left many people stranded and then some tractor trailers in that area are stuck now and can't get out. So yeah, 100 vehicles that are now hoping to be cleared from that area. When we talked to Kim Deiner with DOT earlier, she did mention we've been pretty obedient here in Central Carolina. But in other parts of our state, there had been some accidents and increased incidents likely because of this weather. Yeah, we'll show you what's happening. The National Guard moving into help people there on I-85.

We'll get more as we have it here into the Breaking News Center. Right now, we want to take you to the breaking news situation unfolding at the RDU Airport. That's a live look right now. The snow we've been having today causing significant flight disruptions. Thousands and thousands of people have been impacted in their travels trying to get in and out of RDU today. So according to Flight Aware, 176 flights have been canceled today. 28 have been delayed, but the travel situation is much worse at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Flat Aware reporting nearly 1,100 cancellations there due to deteriorating weather conditions,

including hazardous road conditions and reduced runway conditions. American Airlines saying they canceled its remaining flights. in and out of Charlotte for the evening. Charlotte is, of course, a major hub for American Airlines. That's why they shut that down. There was a ground stop in effect there. And FAA ordered ground stop in Charlotte for much of the day. And American Airlines said, we are so far behind here.

We are having so many problems. We're just going to cancel the rest of the operation for today. That's right. Diane Wilson is live at RDU Airport. She's talking to travelers there all day. Diane, this is a pretty big mess today. You know, it's been a frustrating ordeal for a lot of travelers, But I have to say at RDU for the people that we have been talking to, because those are the ones that the flights were not canceled and they made it here.

They are pretty happy. They were able to get in or out of RDU. Now, we're from South Carolina. So we drove about two hours to get here. Arrived early to RDU as this was a first time flying for Kaylee and Jada Robinson. Hoping that we get out before the storm to get to Miami so we can miss it. Their flight took off, but others not as lucky as a flight board here. at RDU shows more delays and cancellations than flights coming in and out. Because we were supposed to go to Atlanta, but it got delayed, and then it got canceled. They scrapped to find an alternate flight to Miami, as they did not want to miss setting sail on their cruise.

It was stressful, and I was just like, can this just be over already? It was also a stressful travel day for LaSanya Allen. The trains are canceled from Tampa coming north, so from yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So far, no trains there are canceled. She scrambled and found a last minute flight from Tampa to RDU and is now flying to Colorado to visit her son. Prayerfully, we'll be able to make it. And those people, all you just heard from, were able to make it to their destinations. Not everyone's so lucky.

We talked to someone who was here, went through TSA, checked in all of that in the American Lounge, off to London. But then all of a sudden, as they were enjoying a cocktail before their London flight, it got canceled. So they had to leave RDU staying in a hotel and trying to make it back here tomorrow. But already at RDAU, there are some flight cancellations for tomorrow. 73 flights have been canceled. And some people here way over in the corner there, I'm hoping my photographer can show you. They have the bright blue bag. They actually have two dogs with them.

They made the drive from Sanford up here to RDU tonight because they have an early flight tomorrow morning that goes to the Dominican Republic. still says it's a go on time, but they wanted to get here tonight so they wouldn't have to risk anything overnight. And they're going to sleep here at RDU. They say with their two dogs and the husband and wife together to make it on that flight to Dominican Republic. They're hoping tomorrow at like 5 or 6 a.m. So we will see. I don't know, but they're hopeful.

So they will be camping out here tonight. Yeah, family camp out. The dogs look like they're having a good time for now. It's warm in here. Diane's got a story to tell the dogs and the mom's down. hanging out at the airport. Diane, thank you. Diane, thanks. All right, for all of you in Raleigh and Wake County, I know you've been waiting all day for the snow. There were some flakes earlier this afternoon. Then it went away. This dry slot is filling in.

And as we've been showing you from our camera above our downtown Raleigh newsroom on Fayetteville Street, some flakes are now flying. That's right. Mayor Janet Cowell has been a part of the waiting game as well. And she joins us now to talk more about what's the waiting game been like for you all day today, mayor? Well, I'm just reading my neighborhood list, serve. And they're like, we were promised. No. Well, tell us. Ready for it. Yeah, no, I know.

And it's coming. Don Schweniker says it's coming. He says it's coming now. We've seen it now. And it should be picking up by 8 o'clock. And just if you haven't seen Don's forecast, mayor, there's this coastal moisture that's filling in the dry slot right now. So it is changing.

It is changing over. It's happening. And it could be snowing until 10 or 11 o'clock tonight. So all of our friends in Raleigh, you included, should be getting some snow through the evening. about the city preparations for this storm. Obviously there hasn't been a lot of work that's needed to be done, but what did you do in the days ahead of time getting ready for this? Well, you know, we take everything seriously because we know what's happened in the past when we didn't. And so lots of brining. We've got 75 employees at the city level that work on 12-hour shifts.

So they're ready if, you know, when anything happens and any accumulation and if there's any problems. and clearly the police are always there. So if there is something serious that happens, 911 is always going to be there for you. So hopefully, you know, I think it's been so cold that people aren't going out. So probably we're doing pretty well on the traffic and, you know, just car accidents

and that kind of thing have been minimal. Mayor Cow, let's talk about the cold you just mentioned. Don and Cruz have been talking about how frigid temperatures will be tomorrow. I know that Wake County opened up emergency shelters for people. What's your message to people tonight who may not have a place to go? Yeah, well, you absolutely need to find shelter tonight. And I'm really grateful not only to Wake County and the White Flag shelters,

but some of the churches downtown that open up when it's this cold. I know a lot of us in the South do not have the right coats, gloves, you know, hats for this. And certainly, please do go to those shelters. And, you know, I think Wake County has also opened up several. I know we had some of the high schools taking overflow. So there will be a place for you if you go there. All right, Mayor Cowell, you can report into the list serve that things are changing over right now.

Snow's coming. It's on the way. All right. I will tell my neighbors. Yeah, we said this by way of dawn, the chief meteorologist here. Yeah. Yeah, we're just the messengers there. But thank you for your time.

Mayor Janet Kellell from the city of Raleigh, we always appreciate checking in with you here on eyewitness news. Thanks so much. All right, we're going to take a quick break here. It is a first alert day here on eyewitness News because it is a winter storm. And as we've been showing you, I know a lot of you, the snow is piling up right now. Yeah, it's coming. We'll be right back.