Winter storm’s effects: Ice and dangerous road conditions likely to remain for days

As the sun hit Beaufort County following a rare winter snowstorm Wednesday, people welcomed the thaw, but that snow and ice might be sticking around for a while longer.

“There will be a little bit of melting today, but it would be my educated guess that we’re going to be dealing with ice for at least the next two days and possibly into the weekend,” said James Carpenter, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston.

This is due to the fact that temperatures will remain frigid in Beaufort County through Saturday, when a low of 24 is expected. Those low temperatures means that ice melting will be gradual, and that could present a whole different set of dangers according to Carpenter.

“Road conditions are not going to be good today, and it would be my guess that they won’t be good tomorrow,” said Carpenter. “Water is a lubricant. If you have ice and it is well below freezing and that ice is solid, then it is essentially just a new solid surface — no more difficult to drive on than a road — but when you have that layer of lubricant on the ice it is a whole different ball game. It is far more dangerous to drive on.”

Moreover, once night rolls around, all of that freshly melted ice and snow will refreeze as temperatures plummet back into the 20s. That will create black ice, which is especially slick and very hard to see.

Things will start to gradually warm up on Sunday. Carpenter said to expect temperatures to get noticeably warmer on Monday.

Temperatures were still below freezing at 10:30 a.m., according to the weather service, and were not expected to rise significantly above that on Thursday, with a predicted high of 40. By Thursday night a low of 20 is expected. Wind chills will be as low as 10 degrees in many areas.

A winter weather advisory remains in effect for Beaufort and Jasper counties until 11 a.m. Friday.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol was responding to multiple accidents as heavy traffic continues on I-95 across the state. Vehicles and tractor-trailers were at a near standstill along the highway in Hardeeville.

Some of the county’s bridges have reopened, but the Cross Island Parkway remains closed.

Residents are advised to stay off the roads except in emergencies, according the release.

Capt. Randy Hunter of the Bluffton Township Fire District said roadways in Bluffton, especially back roads, remain treacherous, and encourages residents to stay home until conditions improve.

Southbound lanes on the Talmadge Bridge opened just before 9 a.m.

This story will be updated.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 6:20 AM with the headline "Winter storm’s effects: Ice and dangerous road conditions likely to remain for days."