Snow

Business has been booming at North Carolina's six ski resorts over the past few winters, but winter weather is becoming more unpredictable. How is the industry thinking about the future?

The storm could cause travel problems and power outages across a wide part of the Eastern United States from late Friday through early next week. The system is referred to by some as an ominous-sounding "bomb cyclone."

The National Weather Service says heavy snow and strong winds were forecasted to begin in parts of the Carolinas and Appalachia on Friday evening. The system will then intensify as a nor’easter off the East Coast and bring snowy conditions up through New England.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed a state of emergency earlier this week and said 114 National Guard troops were staging in central and eastern North Carolina to prepare to move to the affected areas.

Forecasters predict the storm will arrive as mixed precipitation on Thursday, followed by a round of snow on Friday night into Saturday. The winter blast could ice over a large swath of eastern North Carolina and the northeastern corner of South Carolina, while dumping snow on the Norfolk, Virginia, area.

In a briefing on Sunday afternoon, Gov. Roy Cooper and state emergency management officials provided an update on the impacts of sleet and snow blanketing parts of North Carolina.

A winter storm watch is in effect for this weekend with snow, sleet, ice and freezing rain is expected across central North Carolina starting Saturday through Sunday evening.

In North Carolina, heavy rain and powerful wind gusts from a winter storm system have led to power outages, school closures, and delayed openings for COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites.

The National Weather Service is predicting a warmer and drier winter for North Carolina this year. That's due in part to La Nina, as well as rising temperatures from global warming.

Updated 1:12 p.m. 1/9/2017 Another day of low temperatures will likely leave snow and ice on the roads. The National Weather Service says it will stay…