
A city of Clinton employee blows snow from the sidewalk Wednesday morning. Clinton received three inches of snow Tuesday night, with Sampson County accumulations varying from two inches in Newton Grove to five inches in Ivanhoe.
Snow closes schools, businesses
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A wintry blanket of snow fell across Sampson County Tuesday night and into the early morning hours Wednesday morning, closing schools, government offices and many local businesses while sending the young and young-at-heart out with sleds and gloves to enjoy a day of fun.
It wasn’t fun for everyone, though, as treacherous road conditions brought about a number of weather-related accidents across Sampson.
And, while crews had salted roadways on and off for days before the snow fell, highways thawed and re-froze as temperatures dipped into the teens and 20s for two consecutive days, a fact that forced Sampson County Schools into remote learning mode for the remainder of the week with all events, including athletics, cancelled. Clinton City Schools remained closed this week for students and an optional workday for faculty and staff.
The amount of snow varied widely across the county, with accumulations ranging from two inches to almost five in some parts.
In Roseboro, Mayor Alice Butler said anywhere from one and half to two inches of snow fell; Salemburg saw possibly three inches while Newton Grove, in northern Sampson, had around two inches, a fact verified by Town Clerk Amanda Bradshaw, who measured the snow right in front of the town hall.
“We got three inches,” said Autryville Mayor Grayson Spell.
Mayor Austin Brown of Garland stated, “We have three and a half inches, and I’ve seen four inches in certain places around town.”
Turkey had three inches, according to Mayor Rudy Blackburn. Ivanhoe, in the southern part of Sampson, saw a total of five inches of snow.
In Clinton, where measurements ranged from two inches in town to over three near Royal Lane by the pickle ball courts, children took advantage of having the day off from school to play in the snow Wednesday.
Ashonti Pone, Amiyah Smith and Takiyah Carr were enjoying the snow, sledding down a small hill in their neighborhood using homemade sleds. After a few practice runs, they seemed to get the hang of sledding.
The snow flurries, originally forecast to come in around 7 p.m., Tuesday evening, arrived early, warning residents that the full weight of Jack Frost was on his way as snow danced its way down to the ground around 3:30 in the afternoon, the first of three flurries which ended in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The snow didn’t come without consequences.
Highway Patrol First Sgt. Kevin Pearson said troopers had been busy.
“We responded and took 41 crash reports, and that was from the 21st, from say five o’clock (5 p.m.) all the way to the 22nd at midnight (12 a.m.),” Pearson explained.
Athletics cancelled
With the school closings came the end of athletics for the week.
The middle school basketball tournament games — both boys and girls — scheduled to take place Thursday were postponed. Sampson County Schools athletic director James Lewis did not have a new date for the games as of Thursday, but said he was working on getting them rescheduled as soon as possible.
All athletics for the week at the high school level were also cancelled except for Monday’s lone game, in which East Duplin defeated Clinton boys, 49-38. Hobbton was supposed to face Lakewood on Tuesday, while the Leopards were supposed to travel to Clinton Wednesday and Neuse Charter Friday. Union was set to travel to Hobbton to take on the Wildcats Friday evening as well.
The Hobbton/Lakewood game has been rescheduled for Monday, while Union v. Hobbton has been moved to Feb. 10.
Winter track meets were also moved to next week, with Midway hosting one Monday and Lakewood hosting Wednesday.
Clinton was scheduled to travel to St. Pauls Friday. A reschedule date has yet to be announced.
Prepared for the storm
Lance Eason, Sampson County highway maintenance engineer, said that whether it was five inches or a dusting, Sampson was prepared.
“We saw the storm coming and made preparations for it by informing our employees and making brine, which is a mix of salt and water,” he said. “We put that out across all high traveled areas where higher dense populations are,” he said, adding that they wish they could put brine out on every road but it just isn’t possible.
By Tuesday afternoon, the Sampson County Department of Transportation had people on 12-hour shifts applying salt.
“I think that was key, working all night,” Eason stressed. “If we had waited until early Wednesday morning, we would have waited too long. We have a lot of people here with previous experience with winter weather and they knew what to do and kicked it in high gear.”
Eason said the sun coming out Wednesday and Thursday helped to melt the snow, but that refreeze was an issue, and he urged residents to watch out for slick spots that, he said, will continue for several days.
“When these events happen during the night, it makes things a little more difficult, but we worked well together with the city of Clinton. Most importantly people need to be aware of remaining bad spots,” he explained. “Watch out for black ice, too. The public just needs to be careful and aware of our equipment on the road.”
Editor Chuck Thompson, Sports Editor Brandt Young and staff writers Michael Hardison and Cameron Vann contributed to this article.