No school on Tuesday

Get ready to hunker down. There’s some fairly nasty winter weather moving in.
According to the National Weather Service, a weather system moving out of the Gulf of Mexico brought a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain on Monday.  
“Up your way in Lancaster, it’s probably going to pretty messy,” NWS meteorologist Leonard Vaughan said Saturday. “No way to escape it. Looks like a snow and sleet event for you all.”
Vaughan said models are predicting about 4 inches or more of snow, with snowfall starting late Sunday night or early Monday morning, and continuing most of the day Monday before changing to sleet.
What’s left of the system Monday night is expected to fall in the form of freezing rain.
And that could be extremely messy, Vaughan said.
“When the air right at the surface is below freezing, the rain falls on trees, cars and roadways and then freezes,” Vaughan said. “If there’s enough, you might also have problems with power lines and limbs falling on power lines.”
Though temperatures are expected to reach the mid- to upper-30s during the day throughout most of this week, nighttime temperatures in the 20s could keep driving conditions dicey throughout the work week.
“This is going to be problem for a few days,”  Vaughan said. “Whatever clears during the day could runoff onto roadways, so there’s a good chance there’s going to be black ice.
“Unlike the event we had around Christmas, where it warmed up within a couple of days and the precipitation evaporated, this may take awhile.”
For Lancaster County students, the timing of the main portion of the storm comes at a good time, as they’re scheduled off for a teacher’s work day Monday.

Reece Murphy/reporter

Both this BMW and its tow truck were stuck beside Shelley Mullis Road in Indian Land on Monday morning. Shelley Mullis was the scene of several accidents Monday morning, emergency personnel reported.

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And they'll get a snow day Tuesday, as schools and offices will be closed Jan. 11, because of dangerous road conditions caused by the bad weather, according to its website.

“Keeping our students, parents and staff safe is our top priority,” superintendent Dr. Gene Moore said. “After carefully monitoring conditions and consulting with weather officials and law enforcement, we decided closing was the prudent step to take.”
Lancaster County School District spokesman David Knight said officials will monitor the situation daily to make a decision on whether school will be delayed or closed more days this week.
“When there’s bad weather, Bryan Vaughn, the safety director, has people driving the roads in all parts of the county,” Knight said. “He also talks to emergency services personnel and law enforcement and monitors the weather at the National Weather Service to try to make a decision that is best for protecting students and staff.”
Knight said information will be posted on the school’s website, on local TV media outlets and by automated calls.
Meanwhile, Lancaster County Public Works and Emergency Management are also monitoring the weather and are ready to take action.
Lancaster County Emergency Management Director Morris Russell said his office’s trucks will be ready to roll Monday morning to help those in need, as will the rest of the county’s emergency services.
He said the big question is how much freezing rain will fall.
“Right now, they’re predicting between and eighth and a quarter of an inch,” Russell said. “And I can tell you from experience that once you cross and eighth of an inch, you need to be prepared for power outages.”
Russell said the best advice he can give residents is be prepared. He encourages residents to avoid driving after the storm.
Nighttime and morning hours are usually the most dangerous times to drive after a winter storm due to black ice on road surfaces, he said.