One of the areas that saw the greatest impact from the storm was in the Foothills.
Video footage from Highway 127 in Hickory showed vehicles in a ditch after spinning out in the ice overnight.
ALSO: Several snow-related crashes reported in Hickory
Channel 9′s Dave Faherty was in Catawba County early Saturday morning where he said falling temperatures made for treacherous travel conditions. Highway 127 was still very slick from overnight snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
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In downtown Hickory though, the rough weather didn’t keep everyone inside. Channel 9 spotted several folks out Friday night, including two sisters enjoying the winter weather.
“It’s nice. It’s beautiful, especially since we haven’t had it for a while now,” Diana Figueroa said.
One of the biggest concerns in the Foothills and mountains is the possibility of power outages. We checked with Blue Ridge Energy and as of 6 a.m. Saturday, only saw a handful of outages.
ALSO: Winter weather preparations underway in western North Carolina
The city of Hickory had 16 snowplows ready to roll along with spreaders on many of their trucks. Downtown Hickory businesses were putting out salt along the sidewalks Friday morning.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation told Channel 9 that several roads across the state had already been treated with salt and brine on Thursday.
Earlier in the week, Channel 9′s Dave Faherty saw a lot of activity over at the NCDOT yard south of Morganton, where road crews already had plows on many of the trucks there. Spreaders were loaded on the trucks and will be ready to roll Friday, with salt and dirt.
The county engineer told Channel 9 they also have a huge stockpile of salt – nearly 2,400 tons.
NCDOT said its workers will be on 12-hour shifts to respond to any issues once the storm starts. They have nearly 2,000 trucks ready to go once the storm arrives.
Officials encouraged everyone to stay home and off the roads during the storm if possible.
City of Hickory parks, parking lots, and amenities closed early Friday.
(WATCH BELOW: Lingering Helene damage in mountains could cause outages)