LUMBERTON — For Robeson County residents dreaming of a white Christmas, keep on dreaming.
Once again that annoying snowline, where the snow stops and yields to freezing rain and sleet, is tantalizingly close to Robeson County, but will leave us mostly all wet.
Robeson County residents, however, could drive west or north this weekend to see the fluffy stuff, and they wouldn’t have to drive too far. But it could get a bit risky as the snow that is expected in much of North Carolina will make the roads treacherous and cause widespread power outages.
By the times it clears, Robeson County residents might be pleased that all we got was some bone-chilling cold and rain.
According to the National Weather Service, the rain in Robeson County will begin Saturday around noon and it will continue off and on through Monday night, when it will give way to some clear skies on Tuesday. High temperatures during that time will hover around the low- to mid-40s, not cold enough for the fluffy stuff, but plenty cold enough to force folks inside for the weekend.
A few inches of rain is expected during that time and probably will cause some minor flooding because the Lumber River already is above flood stage. Motorists should be careful when they are traveling. Visibility at times will be low and the roads slick because of the rain.
The storm already has delivered Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel to North Carolina. Cantore, who is known for following the worst weather wherever it might be, was on his way Friday to Asheville, which like much of the state was under a winter storm warning, and Gov. Roy Cooper was expected to declare a state of emergency.
Most forecasts had the worst of the storm happening between about 7 p.m. Saturday and continuing throughout Sunday, during which some models show as much as a foot to 2 feet of snow in some areas. The hardest hits areas of North Carolina are expected to be in the western part of the state and in the mountains.