Snowy weekend winter storm forecast sends NC residents scrambling to resupply
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Central NC residents rushed stores for shovels, ice melt and sleds before the storm
- Shoppers targeted supplies: heat lamps, salt, space heaters and extra water
- Households stocked food, filled tubs and prepared backup cooking options
Forecasts were calling for 6 to 12 inches of snow somewhere — maybe everywhere — in central North Carolina over the weekend but Lesleigh Hastings already was seeing an avalanche by Thursday noon at Burke Brothers Hardware on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh.
“I’ve probably answered 400 phone calls about ice melt,” Hastings said. “There is no ice melt to be found anywhere. Everyone wants ice melt. We had six or eight pallets last weekend and they were gone in about 30 minutes.
“The good news is, the snow that’s coming is nice fluffy snow. Snow shovels are what you’re going to need for this.”
But, surprise! Those were about to sell out, too. Sleds had been gone for hours.
With predictions for possibly the biggest snowfall in a couple of decades scattering pink and blue across the state’s weekend weather maps, people were finally driven out of their houses, stepping gingerly across driveways still icy from last week’s storm, to go in search of replenishment rations.
They had eaten the bread and drunk the milk they bought a week ago. They were tired of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, tired of the cold, tired of each other. Faced with being stuck inside for three more days, they were going to the store whether they needed to or not.
Deep in the aisles of a Home Depot off Retail Drive in Wake Forest, Deborah Glaser looked for a heat lamp. Before the snow comes through, Glaser, who lives in Franklinton, will put one lamp near her well pump and another to keep her chickens warm in their coop.
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Also on the snow day to-do list for Glaser: Filling the bathtub with water. Letting the water drip at night. Opening the cabinets. Warming food in the crock pot.
“There’s a lot to do — more than I really want to do,” Glaser said. “I’m older now, so this is really harder on me physically.”
As she walked away, another key item came to Glaser’s mind — a tub stopper.
Snow prep isn’t foreign to Claude and Sherry Mason, who lived in Michigan for 38 years before they came to North Carolina six years ago. They live in a subdivision where power lines run underground, so they figure their power is likely to remain on — but they always stay prepared.
So the Masons came to Home Depot looking for salt to melt the snow off their driveway. A space heater would be nice if they have power, since the storm will bring bitter cold temperatures with wind chills in the negative digits. But that won’t be delivered until next week.
Before coming to Home Depot, the two went to the grocery store, stocking up on canned soup and hot dogs.
“We haven’t put it up because we bought it some time ago, but we have a grill and we have some charcoal,” Sherry Mason said. “So if we need to cook, we can.”
Friday morning Smith Hardware and Garden on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh had fewer than 100 48-inch Flexible Flyer sleds on display after selling more than 500 on Thursday. By 10:15 a.m. they were down to 50 and before 11 a.m., every sled had gone out the door.
Pepor Smith of Wendell was one of the lucky ones to get a sled. She said she went to six different stores Thursday night searching but came up empty. When she came across the stash at Smith Hardware and Garden, she bought two, so her daughter and a friend would each have their own..
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Handyman Hardware in Raleigh still had signs along the wall Friday with prices for 10 different types of sleds from inflatable snow tubes to 66-inch toboggans. But they all sold out Thursday, said owner Deana Lusk. Friday morning, Lusk was fielding calls and an occasional drop-in checking to see if they had sleds. Lusk said it broke her heart to tell customers she had run out.
Lusk did have 40-lbs bags of salt available first thing Friday. But they sold out at 9:18 a.m.
News & Observer photojournalist Ethan Hyman contributed.
This story was originally published January 30, 2026 at 10:00 AM.
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