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Snow, I-77 to Raleigh in pictures
I ended my coverage of Charleston's snow encounter at 2AM this morning. No problems to report, as the warm ground and diligent highway salting crews kept the roads around town clear. Accumulations ranged from 1/2" and 1" around the city, mainly on grass, signs and trees.
Snow on Azalia blooms in Charleston
Covered stop sign in Dunbar
After a brief night's sleep, I was finally on the road to Raleigh at 8:00AM. Heavy upslope-driven snow showers were still going strong in the mountains, with covered roads and near-blizzard conditions periodically from Beckley to Bluefield.
Near-whiteout on I-77 at Ghent
Just past Fancy Gap, VA, I-77 leaves the Appalachians on a long, steep grade down onto the Carolina Piedmont. At the bottom of the grade is the North Carolina state line, which I crossed around 10:30AM.
Crossing into North Carolina
You can see my windshield suffering from the extensive salting of the roads and my subsequent depletion of the washer fluid reservioir. I think the crews knew this would likely be the last snow of the season, and just dumped whatever salt they had left on the roads. My car looked worse after this storm than some of the bigger snowstorms I'd covered this season.
The result of eager salt truck crews
The eastern edge of the mountains at the state line often contains a dramatic change in weather conditions as you travel downgrade, and today was no exception. By Pilot Mountain, the skies and roads were clear of snow. Drivers heading west were definately in for a surprise.
Smooth sailing at Pilot Mountain
The trees in Piedmont North Carolina are much further along than Charleston. This is a shot of the vegetation along business I-40 near Kernersville, east of Winston-Salem:
Greening up
Near Burlington, I stopped for a car wash to get rid of my coating of salt. I finally rolled into Raleigh at 1:30PM.
Raleigh peeks above the trees along I-40
Raleigh's spring greenery is much farther along than back west. After driving around in snow for the past 18 hours, the green makes it feel like the time of year it actually is. It's always a great feeling to pull up to this house.
The Raleigh house!
Here is the yard, the site of the vehicle reconfiguration that I'll be undertaking in the next few days.
Raleigh house: big yard
The big family get-together is under way, so I'm off the net until later tonight.
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