srocco@newsobserver.com
Traffic is backed up on Glenwood Avenue east, near the Lumley Road overpass, as Raleigh police respond to one of a number of accidents on Monday morning.
RALEIGH -- The State Highway Patrol reported a total of 27 weather-related collisions in Wake County between midnight Monday and 10:30 a.m. Twenty four were property-damage collisions; three were personal-injury collisions.
Cars were sliding all over the road, according to Raleigh police officer Amy Russo. During one incident in North Raleigh, a car slid and slammed into a stopped police officer's car while he was investigating an accident near Lynn Road. The officer was not in the vehicle at the time of the collision. No serious injuries were reported.
Person County, north of Raleigh, experienced the most weather-related collisions. State Highway Patrol reported 53 property damage collisions and 4 personal injury collisions there. Person County also experienced the highest measured totals for precipitation in Central North Carolina, according to Mike Strickler, a meteorologist with the National Weather service in Raleigh. They received reports of up to three inches of snow.
Nine collisions, including three personal injury were reported in Durham county; eight collisions, including three personal injury were reported in Granville County.
There were no life-threatening injuries involved in any of the counties, according to State Highway Patrol spokesman Jeff Gordon.
Wet and icy roads caused at least 30 accidents between 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. according to Russo. Three accidents resulted in overturned vehicles. Though, no serious injuries or fatalities occurred.
"People are driving way too fast and following the person in front of them too closely," Russo said.
The Raleigh Beltline was salted, sanded, and re-opened for traffic, reported Russo. Westbound lanes were closed at 6:50 this morning between Wade Avenue and Hillsborough Street because cars were spinning out of control on black ice.
The ramp from Interstate 40 to Interstate 540 was closed after a multiple vehicle accident and fire this morning, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation. The NC DOT expected the ramp to reopen by 12:15 p.m.
Traffic has resumed a normal flow on I-40 West, U.S. 70, 540 West, and I-85 North after closures and delays this morning due to slick, icy roads.
DOT reported no traffic accidents in Johnston or Chatham counties this morning. One accident was reported by DOT in Orange County on Interstate 85 north near exit 170, but the impact to traffic there was minimal.
It was not snow but a drop in temperature this morning that caused the wet roads to form black ice and create hazardous driving conditions, according to Brandon Locklear, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh.
Sunny skies are expected this afternoon with temperatures in the 50s, Locklear said.
The weather for the rest of the week will be a huge shift from the snowy conditions that brought nearly an inch-and-a-half of snow to Chatham County early this morning, which is more than both Wake and Orange counties received.
According to Locklear, temperatures are expected to rise to the mid-60s by Wednesday.
The National Weather Service reported that Raleigh received just less than an inch of snow during the early morning weather system.
