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The meltdown is underway following a winter storm that dumped wide-ranging amounts of snow (3-to-8 inches) across the Roanoke-Chowan area on Wednesday and Thursday.

Although there were numerous motor vehicle accidents locally due to the slippery roads, there are no reports of life-threatening injuries. Local emergency responders noted that the majority of those accidents ended with vehicles sliding into ditches.

North Carolina Department of Transportation crews were out clearing roads as early as Wednesday night. Most of that work occurred Thursday.

“DOT did a bang up job clearing our roads,” said Northampton County Fire Marshal Chris Collier.

Collier added there were no power outages reported in the county and no weather related calls, other than 13 vehicle accidents, none of which resulted in major injuries.

“Prior to the storm’s arrival, we strategically placed EMS trucks and had extra crews working in anticipation of more calls coming in,” Collier said. “Also, our local volunteer fire departments stayed at their stations throughout the event, ready to immediately respond as needed.”

Dexter Hayes, Sheriff of Hertford County, said other than a few traffic accidents, things were basically quiet during and after the storm.

“There’s nothing major to report other than 10 motor vehicles accidents,” Hayes said. “There weren’t any serious injuries. There were no fires and we had no reports of criminal activity during the winter storm.”

The Town of Ahoskie did declare a state of emergency and had a curfew in place, which also prevented the sale of alcohol, on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday morning, Ahoskie Mayor Weyling White rescinded those two restrictions.

Bertie Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin said there were 26 motor vehicle accidents reported on Wednesday.

“There were a couple of wrecks that required motorists to be transported to the hospital, but most of the accidents happened when vehicles slipped off the icy roads and into the ditch,” Ruffin said.

Ruffin added that NCDOT crews were out clearing roads on Thursday and Friday.

“There’s still some icy spots today (Friday), but our roads are getting better and our businesses are coming back to life after being closed due to the snow,” Ruffin said.

Gates County Sheriff Ray Campbell said eight inches of snow fell across much of the county.

“We had 15 wrecks in the first two hours of snowfall on Wednesday,” Campbell said. “Most of those were low-speed accidents where a vehicle ran into the ditch.”

Campbell said as the snowfall got heavier on Wednesday afternoon and into that night, the number of accidents decreased.

“By that time, most folks were home and stayed put,” he said, adding there were only two wrecks Wednesday night and one on Thursday.

“DOT did a great job, our roads are in good shape today (Friday). There’s still some icy spots in heavily shaded areas, but those will go away as the temperature rises. I’m looking forward to the 60 degree weather the first part of next week,” Campbell stated.

A snowfall analysis by the National Weather Service office in Wakefield, VA shows the heaviest accumulation locally was 8 inches across the majority of Gates County, the northern and southeastern portions of Hertford County and the northeastern part of Bertie County.

Elsewhere in the R-C area, it appears the snowfall was in the 4-to-5 inch range.

In northeastern North Carolina, the NWS analysis shows the hardest hit areas were Moyock (northern Currituck County) where 11 inches of snow fell; the Burnt Mills area of Camden County (9 inches) and the Waterlilly area of Currituck County (9 inches).

In Virginia, the NWS reports the heaviest snow fell in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, and Virginia Beach (10-to-13 inches).

The local weather forecast for this weekend will help with the meltdown thanks to sunny skies with a high of 42 on Saturday and 52 on Sunday. Overnight lows will be in the mid-20s. The high temperature will reach the upper 50s and low 60s on Monday and Tuesday under sunny skies both days.