ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 9am - January 31, 2026

Episode Date: January 31, 2026

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Right now, live coverage from your local newsleader, breaking stories from overnight and this morning, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. All right, we're back on the air. Hope you enjoy GMA. Good Saturday morning to you, Carolina. Thanks for joining us for our special weekend winter storm coverage. I'm Joel Brown. And I'm Anna Rivera. So the snow is falling. Roxborough waking up to a fresh coating of snow. And down in Fayetteville, we're also seeing some flakes too. We are also watching for the impacts on the coast. This could be a major winter storm event for them. This is a live look at Bonner Pier out there on the outer banks. In a few hours, this could be near blizzard-like conditions out there. So here are your weather headlines on your Saturday morning. The snow will start developing throughout the day. Don't let your guard down just because you aren't seeing any snow right now. Also, dangerous cold will be a major story from this storm. An extreme cold advisory takes effect on Sunday and we're already seeing travel impacts. 135 flights canceled at RDU.

You're going to want to check with your airline before heading to the airport. And we have team coverage this morning all across Central North Carolina. Our crews in Raleigh, Durham, the Sandhills, and the storm chaser, keeping us in the know of all of the winter impacts on the roads. But before we talk to them, let's talk to meteorologist Kwaylan Murphy and Steve Stewart. They are both here working over time to get us a full picture of what to expect in the hours ahead. We'll start with you, Quay. Good morning. Good morning.

Yeah, we're going to see the radar begin to fill in over the next few hours. I'm thinking towards 11 a.m. lunchtime we'll have pretty much a full board here of some snow potential. So far this morning, it's been dry over the triangle. I think we still have another couple of hours to go until we see a bit more snowfall, but along I-95 in areas east and light snow flurries developing all the way down to the sand hills. And as we look north towards I-D-5 and I-40, we're seeing more snow shower activity. Definitely roads covered around the Greensboro area with that setty snowfall early this morning. So that's where travel certainly could become hazardous. This is lunchtime today. And you can see the whole. are going to fill in at this point. So we're going to see the atmosphere getting more saturated.

That's going to lead to higher snowfall potential through the afternoon, through your evening hours, tapering just after midnight tonight in the triangle and lingering and wrapping up before sunrise tomorrow morning in the sandhills. Here are our latest snowfall totals. We're looking at two to four, generally I-85 in north,

three to six around the triangle. And then as we get towards I-95 in east, I think this is where the snow totals could really increase. So far, six to nine inches with the higher potential, We're thinking for parts of Eastern Wayne County, Eastern Wilson, Eastern Edgecombe, a potential to see maybe 10 plus inches for some isolated spots.

Overall, this will be highly dependent upon that drier air, but we're starting to see the moisture overcome the dry air at this point. That's why you're starting to see the satellite radar fill in a bit more to the south. And this is the trend we want to continue throughout the day. That low pressure is offshore. It's gonna get stronger through the day.

And we have some upper level support with that low out to the west. This is a drier air bringing that influx of dry conditions around the triangle, but that's going to be pushing off to the east and then we'll get help in the upper levels with the lift. That's a mechanism that's important. Of course, the forcing to helping the snowfall. Impact scale unchanged for the impacts of heavy snow dangerous wind chill values. Snow drifts possible because of visibilities and gusty winds. Difficult travel also likely there. Winter storm warning still in place through late tonight, early Sunday morning. But the cold weather advisory also in play too. If you're maybe going to run out soon over the next couple of hours, be prepared for the cold. conditions feels like temperatures are in the single digits mainly from the triangle and north for now,

but a drop will continue through the day. We have gusty winds out there and that's making it feel colder, of course, along with the cloud cover that we have overhead. Temperatures are in the teens and 20s, but you factor in the winds. This is your wind chill. Single digits in the triangle now down the eight in Smithfield, nine in Goldsboro. So these areas have seen the drop in the last hour. So down the three in Burlington on the field and that drop in wind chill values will continue for the sand hills too. And this is why look at the wind in Fayville, 36 miles per hour, gusting so it makes it feel even colder there. We'd expect these gusts to continue through late night and into tomorrow. As a result, single digit wind chills all the way through

tonight. Again, snow wraps up closer to midnight tonight. Here's your next 24 hours by noon today and one o'clock snow, snow through four and all the way through seven o'clock and then tapering shortly after midnight tonight. Even colder on Sunday, this is dangerous cold that we're setting up for 1 a.m to 10 a.m. Sunday feels like temperatures below zero. When we come back, meteorologist Steve Stewart will have a closer look at statewide conditions and also the other factors that we're watching that could limit snow potential in some spots too. It's coming up right now back to you. All right. Quaylon Murphy giving us the latest. Quaylan thank you. Let's go outside now where really the big story right now is bone chillingly cold. Yeah, very cold. And one person that does not

deal with the cold without multiple layers is our Tamara Scott. She's been rolling down the window every once in a while just to get a temperature check literally. Yeah, so that's why she has the hat on ready to go. Tamara, what are you seeing? Well, you know, I have to say ready to go just in case the snows are coming down. We got to jump out, see what's going on out there. And we have been keeping our eyes peeled. Right now we're on South Sonders Street just south of downtown. And we have been on the lookout.

You can see those brine lines on the road. But we've also been wondering if we've been seeing snowflakes coming down. No, this is not something that I don't think you all could see. see, but we have my photographer and I, Rob Jets, and we've been keeping our eyes peeled, maybe seeing a couple of flakes coming down. But, you know, we're keeping our appeal. It's nothing coming down in any series right now, but you guys are right. It is cold, cold, cold outside. So if you are taking the time to walk the dog or get a run in, now's the time, and I do think I see some flurries coming down. So maybe next time we talk to you guys,

there'll be more. Back to you. Getting closer and closer. Getting closer and closer. Seeing some snowflakes here, at least some flurries from Breaking News 1. Tamara Scott, thank you. Let's go to Durham now. Yeah, that's where Akela Davis is. She's in Storm Chaser right now. And you've been kind of tracking that the Bull City is ready. We've seen those DOT crews ready to go, Akela. The Bull City is ready. Good morning, Joel and Anna. I want to give you a live look at what we are seeing here along I-85 South. Plow staging. You can tell there's really a high level of preparedness here in Durham. Our morning long, we've been seeing plows staged across the Durham and even the Orange County line. That's where we were earlier. This is a really government. A reminder for drivers. The city of Durham wants people to avoid parking on the street because plows will be in service. They want to make sure that they are able to clear the roads with no problem. You can also see those white lines, which is the brine on the road. So as we wait for snow, we know Durham Parks and Rec has closed all of their facilities for the day,

all in anticipation of inclement weather. But again, we aren't seeing it just yet here in the Bull City. That is the very latest from the Storm Chaser. Back to you. All right, Akela Davis and Storm Chaser, showing off the handle. there on the side of I-85. You see how they took the shoulder there? Yeah, that's, yeah, that was pretty good. It's the power of storm chasing. Let's go back to Capitol City now.

Yeah, that's where we find Michael Perchick. He's at the Wake County Maintenance Yard for the NCDOT. Michael, we've seen a lot of activity happening behind you as these trucks are getting ready for whatever is to come. There is a lot of activity happening behind the fence. There's not so much happening outside of the fence, and that's because the first flakes have not yet fallen. Look, in the past couple of days, a lot of that worked to try and mitigate the impact. of that potential snowfall has taken place. NCDOT feels they are in good position when it comes to resources like salt and brine. Their main concern was driver fatigue.

So yesterday it was actually a bit of a slower day with some of their crews. I want to make sure that enough time to rest and recover after a long week last week from the ice accumulation that hit and the manual labor that came with trying to clear the road away from there. As always, the interstates will be their first priority

once that snowfall does hit, followed by primary roads and secondary roads. You still have some time to be on the road if you want to, but it is bone-chillingly cold outside. No need to. Stay inside, stay warm. Enjoy watching us. Let us tell you how cold it is. Send it back to you. Michael Perchick out there so you don't have to be. And yeah, that's the fear here is that people will let their guard down, go outside now and then get stuck when the real snow starts to fall. Dealing with all of this winter weather. Okay, as we had to break, let's take a live look right now

at Roxborough. This is Drone 11 over top of Rocksboro. It's a pretty picture from Persson County. Roxborough got some snow overnight. One of the first few rounds of snow. We, we, are expecting more. We're expecting a lot more throughout the whole viewing area. Right now, we're just going to enjoy these pictures from Roxborough. Good morning to the Snow Capital. IWitness News. First Alert Day coverage continues after this. 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. dot CA and get expert solutions tailored to your business. That was easy. Happening now, the Durham Rescue Mission reactivating Operation Rescue Warm Shelter. The mission is sending out teams to find people in need of a warm place to stay ahead of the winter weather. The shelter is also adding more beds and resources to help keep more people safe. In Cumberland County, community partners shelters and warming centers will remain open and available through the weekend to support residents in need that includes emergency and white flag shelters at the salvation army of the sandhills in thiaville and cornerstone christian empowerment center in spring lake meals will be provided at both locations all right another quick break let's take a live look outside person county on this saturday morning we are seeing some snowfall on the ground there more flurries and some very snow covered roads some cards out there. Doing the best that they can to navigate things in Roxburgh. We're going to see more widespread snow as this Saturday goes on and we're going to be here walking you through it

every step of the way. Eye with this news. First Alert Day. Winter weather coverage continues after the break. Nice. 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. Cooperators, investing in your future together. Mutual funds are offered through Cooperators Financial Investment Services Inc. to Canadian residents except those in Quebec in the territories.

Segregated funds are administered by cooperators' life insurance company. Life insurance is underwritten by cooperators' life insurance company. 15, let's get the checkdown in Cumberland County. We've seen some snow flurries in Fayetteville, but still waiting on that heavier snow. Yeah, Penelope Lopez right now in Breaking News 1. And what are you seeing, Penelope? Yeah, good morning. Yeah, we are seeing some of the flurries come down. It's definitely picking up as we're getting closer to downtown Fayetteville. We are on I-95 north heading to Fayetteville. And earlier, Quaylin was talking about the wind and how it was picking up. And it definitely was while we were at the fountain. You can see some of the signs. They were just swaying back and forth. But as you can see now, the conditions of the road look okay. We see some of the. We see some of the fountain. We see some. some of the trucks on the road, as we know, I-95 is that, is that middle point for many people

traveling all the way from the north to the south. So we are going to definitely see some trucks, but I don't know if you guys can see, but the snow flakes are definitely coming down and CDO-T, reading these streets yesterday, and they're on standby, ready to deploy at any given a moment. And we've been saying this all morning, it's cold. So if you can stay home. And if you do have to hit the roads, be sure to reduce your speed and just be cautious out there. Okay, some very good advice there. Penelby, thank you. All right. Let's check things out up in Durham County. For that, we're going to talk to the sheriff. There he is, Clarence Burkhead, Sheriff, of Clarence Burkhead in his car, in his patrol car.

Sheriff, we talked to you just last week on the midst of that ice event. Now we've got another winter storm on our heels. What are you telling your deputies? What are you telling the public? Well, we're telling the public to stay home, Joel. We know that the snow is coming. Right now, we don't have anything going on in in northern Durham or in Durham period. But my deputies are out checking the road, secondary roads. We got a light dusting early this morning far north on the other side of Bahama near the person county line. So we're just telling everyone to prepare.

If you need to go out, go out now and get back home before the weather gets worse because we know it's coming. You know, one thing that we saw with last week's storm was a lot of people leaving ice on top of their cars and seeing some issues with that. If people do go out after this event, what's your advice to them? Well, with this event, it's going to be a nice light snow, so it should blow off. But we always want persons to clean off their cars, get all the ice and snow off, because it can blow off your car and distract the other drivers, either oncoming or behind you. So if you're going to go out and you've got snow or ice on your car, please clean it off as completely as possible. Yeah.

Did you learn anything last week from last week's winter weather event that maybe you can use this week? Well, from a staffing point of view, we were definitely prepared. So we staffed up, as we have for this event. We want to make sure that we can service the residents of Durham County. So we're doing that. But we're also, again, putting out our social media messages for folks to stay in. The secondary roads are always going to be more treacherous than the main highways. DOT, as well as Durham County, does a great job of clearing them.

But we know they're going to be slick spots. So lower your speed. increase your stopping distance. And if you have to go out, do that. But if not, stay home. Yeah, stay home so you guys can stay safe as well and not have to respond to too many issues. Sheriff, thank you so much.

My pleasure, Anna. Thank you. All right. Now to our sheriff here in the... New sheriff in town over here. New sheriff in town. We call it Quailin Murphy. Yeah, hey, listen, we're tracking the radar,

of course, with some changes happening around the triangle. But if you want to get out in the next couple of hours of the triangle, still have time to do that before we start to see more of that snow accumulation happening. We're seeing just a few flurries developing for some areas around southern Wake County, so that includes locations into the Fukuave Arena area. Also off to the east along 540 up towards Garner, maybe a few flakes for you, but still overall, rather quiet, especially compared to what's happening west and east of us.

In Graham, along 85 and 40, we're seeing impacts there. Orange County, person County starting to see a few more flurries flying and same goes for Nash County, Halifax, and North. themth and we've been pretty steady on the flurries flying in our eastern counties along i-95 this morning samson county same deal with those light flurries happening around fiatville all the way east into wane county too but what's encouraging is that we're starting to see the radar filling into the south so we're starting to see more moisture developing that column getting more moist and that's going to help lead to more snow accumulation along the coastline though here's the low that we're tracking

and that's going to get stronger through the day it's going to lead to stronger wind gusts and also higher snowfall accumulation in addition to the upper level support we have coming in from the west and Steve will have more on that walking through the next 24 hours around noon one today snow in the triangle snow continues through four wrapping up in the triangle in areas north closer to midnight tonight you'll have some lingering snow still south and east of the triangle just shortly after midnight tonight this will all be done with accumulation before sunrise tomorrow level four in our impact scale heavy snow dangerous wind chill drifting snow possible course travel likely difficult in spots That's why we have the winter storm warning.

The winter weather advisory or the cold weather advisory is for single digit wind chills. Those are already, we've pushed play on those so far and we're seeing more of those numbers showing up. Breezy conditions, that's why it feels much colder out there too. Temperatures, teens, 20s, single digit wind chill. We're now down to two in Oxford, seven in Raleigh, seven in Irwin. Clinton and Faville knocking on the door of those single digits right now. Wind speed sustained, 22 Irwin, 10 to 20 for most, but these gusts, even higher. around 36 miles per hour in Fayetteville. Here we are 36 there 28 in Goldsbrough.

Extreme cold coming tonight and tomorrow with more on that. Here's meteorologist Steve Stewart. Okay, Quaylin, thank you very much. Yeah, you're right. We're waiting for it to fill in around the triangle. We'll start getting some more of that snow moving in as we go a little bit later on. Could be heavy at times. You'll see the plows out later on. Give them a wide berth so they can keep those roads clear for us. And this is a fluffy snow. Easy to remove. You can use a leaf blower to blow it off your driveway and a little warm up. the 40s for a couple of days, a few days actually next week. Look at the probabilities midday really starting to go up and they're going to stay elevated all the way through the afternoon and the evening hours as well. Once we get past the midnight hour, those chances really start to drop off in a big way. This is an all snow event. We don't have to worry about getting sleet or freezing rain. We could see some dry air, try to get pulled in the loft, but we're not seeing a lot of evidence with that right now. And possible blizzard conditions on the outer banks. This low is going to intensify out here. And look at some of those gusts near 60 miles an hour with wide out conditions. The models are all over the place as far as amounts, but we look at a lot of ensembles,

and most of them say a high probability of two inches, decent chance at four inches, six inches. It goes down in a few areas, but even Wilson and Goldsboro, that's a relatively high chance of getting basically some decent snow. This trough out here is key to us. Out ahead of the trough, we have air going up, lifting. That's what we need to lift the atmosphere to square. out all that precipitation. That upper low is going to energize this surface low here.

And this is going to bring in some bands of snow. And this is giving the lift that we need. So we really feel this is going to be filling in as we go throughout the afternoon. And predict you're showing just that the snow filling in and the amounts really starting to add up as we get going later into the day. So for now we're keeping lesser amounts to the north, higher amounts off to the south and east. There could be a bullseye in here that's flirting with 10 inches. flirting with 10 inches or more, but there could be that narrow band along that 95 corridor that could get 6 to 9 inches. By the time we get to our Monday sunny, still cold in the 30s, but we'll get some melting going on. Touch warmer, probably the warmest day of the week at 46. We'll see this disturbance coming away. Could bring some rain showers as we get into our Wednesday. Maybe ending is a snowflake. Not like this snow. We're going to have snow today. Feels like temperatures in the single digits gets even colder tonight in the teens with feels like.

near zero or below. Evening snow. I think once we get past midnight for a lot of us, the snow is going to start to move out. That extreme cold warning tomorrow morning. Some melting on Groundhog Day. Phil better be an early spring and a chance at showers on Wednesday. We are all hoping he does, he does see his shadow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's the thing. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. Early spring. Okay. Steve, thank you. Look, they say Apex is the peak of good living. There it is. On a snow day. Living good. It's even better. That's the picture from Salem Street, expecting snow here, too. We're just waiting on it.

Eyewitness News. First Alert Day. Winter weather coverage continues after the break. Now to breaking news. With Amex Platinum, almost every purchase made with your card can be covered with points, including new tastes, new fits, and virtually everything in between. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. It was out of Durham, more than 40 firefighters working to put out a house fire.

These are new pictures from Trotter Ridge Road. Firefighters arriving to find flames coming from the roof. The homeowner was able to get out safely and is being helped by the Red Cross. The cause of that fire is still under investigation. Some other breaking news we are tracking this morning. A state highway patrol trooper injured in a crash overnight in Wayne County. I witness news on the scene on Highway 70 at Spence Avenue and in Goldsboro. We're told a car was traveling the wrong way down the road and hit the trooper.

We're working right now to learn their condition. Weather was not a factor. in that crash. Turning now to sports, all three of our local ACC basketball teams are playing on the road today. Yeah, NC State's game at Wake Forest

was the only one affected by the weather. It now will tip off at noon. Dukes on the road, they're playing Virginia Tech. That's gonna have a noon start. And the North Carolina Tor Hills, they are in Atlanta. They're gonna take on Georgia Tech at two. Let's take a live look right now at Fayetteville

as we head to break. We've seen those flakes flying already in the sandhills. Much more to come after the break. It's a first alert day here on 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. ABC 11. Bringing you up to the minute on the winter storm. Stream cold conditions tonight. Probability is going to be ramping up. to get slick on the roads tonight. And so just stay off the roadways for us because if you're

out on the roads and you have an incident that puts our folks out on the roads. On the air at 930 and patiently waiting on the snow. Good Saturday morning, Carolina. Thanks for joining us for our special first alert day weekend. Winter weather storm coverage. I'm Joel Brown. And I'm Anna Rivera and it is a first alert day. We are tracking snow falling across the viewing area. Just take a look right now at these live pictures from Roxborough. The streets covered in fresh snow and you can see those flakes are flanks. once again. Snow already on the ground and falling again from the sky. Look, this snow will develop throughout the day. So don't let your guard down just because you may not be seeing snow out your

window right now. Look, dangerous cold will also be a major story in this storm. An extreme cold advisory takes effect on Sunday. And there's already travel impacts for this storm. 1,800 flights canceled nationwide today, 135 of them at RDU. And we want to see what's happening where you are. Send us your photos, send us your picks at ABC11.com or the ABC11 app. We have team coverage this morning all across Central North Carolina. Our crews in Raleigh, Durham, the Sandhills, and the storm chaser, keeping us in the know of the winter impacts on the roads. Look at that. New faces in the floor box.

We're getting reinforcements for our weather storm coverage. Everybody stand by. Let's talk to meteorologist, Quaylin Murphy and Steve Stewart right now. They're working overtime to get us a full picture of what to expect in the hours ahead. Hey, good morning. Some spots that were flurry free. now seeing snow flurries in the area. We're talking in Southern Wake County, also portions of Harnett County and Johnson now near Fugueh Wave Arena, back east into areas closer to

to Garner with some flakes into Angerr, also the Smithfield area and Dunn. Still in Samson County, down towards Clinton, eastern Cumberland County, east of Fayetteville and even Fayetteville proper at times, some flurries. Indian Springs up towards Goldsboro. Generally along I-95, you had a steady pace of flurry activity since early this morning. Wilson up to Rocky Mount Enfield in Roanoke Rapids. Things are changing visibility wise for some of you too with some light flurries in the skies. Roxborough seeing some of that activity also north into Orange County and Alamance County seeing a bit more flurry action too. What's going to happen in the next couple of hours, we're going to see this filling in gradually as we start to see more snow shower potential. I think by lunchtime today we're looking at higher snowfall accumulations to get underway.

That's going to continue through your evening up until around midnight tonight. You see that quick drop off there in that snowfall accumulation. It comes to an end for the triangle, maybe lingering south and east of the triangle. We'll have two to four inches generally along I-85 and north. That includes Mecklenburg County, Person, Granville, Vance, and Warren counties. I think those of you along 95, this is where we'll have the best shot to see accumulating snowfall. So those in Sand Hills really happy about that potential, I know a lot of folks are. Those of you east of 95, this is where the best shot at maybe over nine inches of snow will develop.

So that's eastern Wayne County, Wilson, Edgecombe, Halifax County. in the triangle all the way areas towards Franklin County back towards Alamance and Orange Chatham down the league generally three to six inches of snow. What's happening right now as we're starting to see the snow filling in from the south and east it tells us the column is getting more saturated that's what we want to see that trend's going to lead to accumulation low pressure here off shore upper level support also moving closer and we've been tracking that upper level low since early this morning we had one slot of dry air early on that's starting to push

to the east and this is the ultimate core of that trough that's going to help kick up some of the snowfall accumulation through the day. Impact scale of the four still for heavy snow potential dangerous wind chills snow drifts and difficult travel too. I want to draw your attention to the latest impacts. We have the winter storm morning for most but Mecklenburg county you've been downgraded now to winter weather advisory and that correlates with our snowfall totals for you because we've gone with two to four inches and so the weather service in wakefield basically saying with that at two to four inches, there'll be a slightly lesser impact for you in general.

Cold weather advisory with feels like temperatures, single digits. Those numbers are already playing out right now with gusty winds too. So while we have dry conditions on the roads in the triangle, that's going to be changing in the next couple of hours. With Steve Stewart on the way, we'll have more details on that coming up. Right now, back to you. So, Gwalen, when you were showing that radar just a moment ago, I decided to look at the DOT cameras in that area. And this is 40 and Jones Sausage Road.

So those snowflakes have arrived in Wake County. So we are getting started with all of this snow that we're going to see in the triangle now. Yeah, snow blowing over I-40 at this hour. Let's go up several miles up our I-40 and get to Orange County. We go to the phones. Sheriff Charles Blackwood, Orange County Sheriff on the phone with us. Sheriff, are you there? Can you hear us? Yes, sir.

How are you doing this morning? Good to hear your voice again. We did this last week talking about the ice storm. Now here we go again. What did you tell your deputies to prepare for it? And what do you want the public to know? Well, I'm glad these events keep happening on the weekend. I think that's been beneficial to us.

There's not as much traffic on the road. Folks are able to take advantage of staying home a little bit. And other than that, I just think that we've got to stay focused on those safety tips that we talk about. Don't travel if you don't have to. If you do have to get out, take it slow, keep distance between you and the vehicles in front of you. pay attention, especially at intersections or curves where you're going to have to potentially stop at a stoplight or intersection or turn a curve. Just take it easy, take it slow, get where you need to go and get there safe.

Yeah, so I know a lot of your deputies that, you know, they've been doing the same thing as last weekend, and now they're out and about doing the same things. What is your message to people if they do need help during this weather event? Well, you know, always 9-1-1. The other is to stay in touch with your neighbors. We have a lot of people that are living in isolation now, and it's just important stay in touch with your neighbors. The sad thing would be it we found out that our neighbor had a problem

and wasn't able to call us, and it was too late to help. So stay in touch with your neighbors, especially those you know are already at risk. The snow is one issue, and we know it's better than ice, but we have got to understand that when you have sub-freezing, weather that extends for a week, a week and a half, two weeks, and the temperature never gets above freezing. It's really hard on equipment. It's hard on cars. It's hard on our infrastructure. It's hard on our bodies. So I just want everybody to remember, you know, we want to see some sunshine and some warming temperatures, but check on your neighbors, check on each other, and just take care of your

neighbors. No, you make a very good point, whether we get a dusting in your neighborhood or we get six inches in your neighborhood. It will be extremely cold no matter what. So check on your folks, check on your people. Let's take care of each other. That is Sheriff Charles Blackwood from Orange County. Sheriff, thank you. Okay, now we are going to head back to Wake County now. That's where Cindy Bay is. Cindy Bay, where's she at in Apex? Cindy Bay loves Apex. Wasn't she in Apex last week? Cindy, good morning. Welcome to our coverage. What are you seeing where you are? Hey, good morning, guys. Well, it seems like I can't be away from Apex. I love this place so much. but it is downtown apex of chilly morning with the wind gusts making it feel really cold,

but people are still here out in downtown getting their hot cup of coffee. We see the coffee shop is still open, but as people are getting their steps in this morning, you still want to watch out for some of the ice that remains on the sidewalk. So there are still icy spots increasing the risk of falling. So be careful out there. We've also seen that some driveways haven't completely all melted yet. And so again, safety is top of mind here in downtown Apex. We're also right next to the fire station and police department and will continue to bring you any updates as soon as we can here in downtown Apex. Back to you, Joel and Anna. As quiet as it's kept, I don't think Cindy can keep this a secret.

It is extremely cold outside. That is written all over Cindy Bay's face. Cindy go get warm. We'll see you next side. Those wind chills bitterly cold. Okay, now let's head over to Durham. Let's welcome in. Trayvon Miles to the special first alert day coverage. Trayvon, where are you? Joel I am standing by at the Public Works Operations Center here in Durham as you can see behind me there's some salt trucks behind me about 20 of them all ready to go we don't see any snow on the ground right now but we do see some flurries as we got out here just talked to one official he says they've been working for 14 days straight and obviously they got a big day ahead of them today so we'll be monitoring this we'll be talking to them coming up here in the next few minutes

as we get set for this winter weather so much we'll check back in in just a little bit All right, as we head to break, let's take a live look in Charlotte right now. Looks like they got some winter weather there. Queen City has seen some snow and they are going to see some more. This is the same system moving our way now. If you're looking at your window and you just woke up and said, where's that snow they promised? It is coming, folks. We are patiently waiting.

We're getting prepared now. Our first alert day. Winter weather coverage continues after this break. Okay, lots of folks watches. 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. Down east, talking about my people in Goldsboro, Greenville, all of that. We are watching for them too on this one time.

And one of our people, Tom George, he's heading down east right now, headed toward Wilson. Tom, what are you seeing? Yeah, that's right. As we head out east, we're seeing more and more flurries picking up as we left Raleigh. We're now about a couple miles from where 264 meets I-95, not too far from Wiltson. I want to flip things around and show you what we're seeing right now. Maybe hard to tell on the camera right here, but we can actually see some of the flurries popping up onto the road right now where we are right now.

So definitely seeing some of those conditions as we just passed one of the signs. It actually said avoid unnecessary travel. So we're going to be out here for the long haul. But, you know, the good news, which you guys will appreciate, we're heading into Wawa territory. So at least we'll have that where we are. You know, we love Wawa territory around here. Tom, I mean, I know you're busy and you're cold,

but if you could bring us back a couple soft pretzels from Wawa, that would be greatly appreciated, you know, just asking. Their coffee's good, too, if you get cold, Tom. Tom, have a good time down there, and we will check back with you soon. All right, as we had to break here, a live look at apex right now. The peak of good living where we just saw Cindy Bay, who was very bundled up in those cold temperatures. Yeah, it's a lot warmer picture than it is actually on the ground.

Very cold in apex and the snow is on the way. I witness news. First alert day coverage of this winter storm weather continues after this. Yes. And as you may imagine, the weather is causing some major flight disruptions at RDU Airport. You can see right now 135 flight cancellations. And a few delays, these numbers are expected to increase as the day progresses. Yeah, it's going to be a messy day. at the airport. 1,500 flights, 1,800 flights, I think, canceled nationwide? 135 at RDU. So if you're flying today or maybe like me,

you're expecting someone to arrive today at the airport. Supposed to get back late tonight. We've got questions. We've got questions. No better person to ask than Kiara Kelly, our friend over at RDU Airport, Kiara. What's the state of things over there?

Well, good morning, guys. So we are currently monitoring conditions. As you said, we do have quite a few cancellations, and we do expect those numbers to change throughout the day and the weekend. But we would encourage everyone. If you are going to travel today, please make sure you check your airlines app or the homepage or Rdu.com. We do have a flight status page on our website just to make sure that your flight is actually going to leave when you think it is. So make sure you check that before you actually head out to the airport. And last week we were dealing with that ice, that removal process, obviously very intensive at the airport.

What's the removal process of snow that we're going to be dealing with? Yes, so actually we actually prepare for winter weather before it arrives. Our crews, they train regularly, so they're ready to roll when they're needed. We actually alternate between treating and removing snow and ice from our runways. And so because we are 24-7 operation, we remain open at all times. even if one or more of our runways are closed. And so we actually make sure that our taxiways and our runways are clear of snow and ice. We have our snow plows and our brooms and our brushes and they're cleaned and their service in advance of the storm.

So we're ready to go when the snow hits. Kiara Kelly at RDU Airport. It's going to be a busy day for you. Kiara, we'll talk to you soon. Thank you so much. And as we had to bring. And as we had to break, let's take a live look right now at 501 Southbound in Person County. our photojournalist is out there checking out the conditions.

You can see those snowflakes flying and those roads are covered. We'll be right back. All right. We can see the snow starting to fill in now. And we've been dry for a while, but you see many areas east and also to the west. Been dealing with the snow. Everyone should be getting snow as we go through the next couple of hours or so. The winds will pick up later today.

It feels like temperatures in the single digit, even colder tomorrow morning near zero when we start today. But we'll get some sunshine around, a little melting Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday. Even colder. Even colder. 40's at the end of the tunnel though. Yeah. Flurry's at your house, right? Florey's happening at my house already. The boys are getting excited. Second hour for morning America's next. From the eyewitness news center, I'm Joel Brown for Steve, Anna Quaylin, the entire IWitness News team. Thank you so much for watching. I would just continues online right now on ABC11.com. Take it. ABC 11 eyewitness news is sponsored by Ruggin Home of Raleigh. Experience the Extraordinary.