Storm approaches South

Associated Press

ATLANTA

A winter storm expected to strike the South with freezing rain, sleet and several inches of snow in some areas has prompted early school closings, emergency declarations by two states and a rush by some to stock up on food.

One man in Kentucky died Thursday after his pickup truck slid off a snow-slickened road, authorities said.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning that extended from eastern Alabama through north Georgia, including the Atlanta area, all the way to northeastern North Carolina. Forecasts called for a mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow in the region.

Even a thin layer of ice could make weekend travel treacherous on highways just north of the Gulf Coast all the way to the East Coast, forecasters warned.

Mike Schichtel, lead forecaster at the federal government’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md., said the storm threat is significant for the Southeast.

In Kentucky, 55-year-old motorist Daniel Noble rounded a curve in his pickup truck and slid off a snow-slick road into a rail fence Thursday about 14 miles south of the city of Jackson, authorities said. Coroner George Griffith of Breathitt County said the man was pronounced dead at the scene, adding about an inch of snow had fallen there at the time.

Crews were out treating roadways early in Kentucky, but officials still urged motorists to use caution as some roadways were covered and slick.

Dozens of school districts in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia either closed Thursday or called off classes early as snow began falling.

Other states further southward rushed to complete emergency preparations.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued a state of emergency Thursday that will open its emergency operations center this morning.

Some school systems in central Alabama also are shutting today because of the threat there of as much as 3 inches of snow and sleet.

Light to moderate snow could extend from central Alabama into southeastern Virginia late today into early Saturday, the Weather Prediction Center said in an advisory.

Some parts of North Carolina could receive 4 inches or more of snow and there’s a “slight risk” of 8 inches or more of snow in eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia, according to the advisory.

Snow is also possible in Atlanta, where snow and ice have jammed freeways in past storms.