NOUS42 KCHS 051100 PNSCHS GAZ087-088-099>101-114>119-137>141-SCZ040-042>045-047>052-061100- PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 600 AM EST WED DEC 5 2012 ...WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK CONTINUES ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA... TODAY WE WILL DISCUSS THE IMPACTS OF FREEZING RAIN AND BLACK ICE ACROSS SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA. COUNTIES ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 16 AVERAGE LESS THAN 5 HOURS OF FREEZING RAIN AND FREEZING DRIZZLE EACH WINTER. ELSEWHERE...ON AVERAGE FREEZING PRECIPITATION ONLY FALLS DURING 5 TO 10 HOURS EACH WINTER...IN MOST LOCATIONS LESS THAN HALF A DAY EACH YEAR. HOWEVER... ICE STORMS DO OCCUR IN OUR REGION...MOST RECENTLY IN JANUARY 2011...AND ICE ACCUMULATION CAN RAPIDLY PRODUCE DANGEROUS DRIVING CONDITIONS AND POWER OUTAGES. IN OUR REGION...WARM AIR ALOFT USUALLY MELTS SNOWFLAKES TO RAINDROPS LONG BEFORE ANY SNOW CAN REACH THE GROUND...AND BECAUSE SURFACE TEMPERATURES TYPICALLY REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING WE NORMALLY EXPERIENCE RAIN AND DRIZZLE. HOWEVER...IF SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE FREEZING OR COLDER...RAINDROPS WILL FREEZE AS THEY MAKE CONTACT WITH ROADS...PARKING LOTS...TREES...POWER LINES AND OTHER EXPOSED SURFACES. FREEZING RAIN WILL ACCUMULATE EFFICIENTLY ON PARKED AUTOMOBILES... BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES...TREES AND POWER LINES SINCE THESE SURFACES TEND TO ASSUME THE SAME TEMPERATURE AS THE SURROUNDING AIR. HEAVY FREEZING RAIN CAN ACCUMULATE QUICKLY...RENDERING ROADS IMPASSABLE AND BRINGING DOWN TREES...TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES. FREEZING RAIN CAN ALSO CREATE HAZARDOUS WALKING CONDITIONS. WHEN ICE REDUCES TRACTION...SLIPS AND FALLS CAN PRODUCE INJURIES ON HARD SURFACES SUCH AS SIDEWALKS...PARKING LOTS...STEPS AND DRIVEWAYS. COLDER TEMPERATURES WILL PROMOTE MORE EFFICIENT ICE ACCUMULATION. ICE ACCUMULATION CAN ALSO INCREASE IN SHADED LOCATIONS...AT NIGHT AND AFTER EXTENDED PERIODS OF COLD WEATHER. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA WILL ISSUE AN ICE STORM WARNING WHEN WE ANTICIPATE AT LEAST ONE-QUARTER OF AN INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION WITHIN A GIVEN STORM...OR WHEN LESSER AMOUNTS OF ICE ACCUMULATE QUICKLY AND WILL PRODUCE DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS. YOUR SHOULD IMPLEMENT YOUR PREPARATION PLAN IN ADVANCE OF AN ICE STORM...AND YOU SHOULD AVOID AUTOMOBILE AND FOOT TRAVEL WHEN AN ICE STORM IS OCCURRING. IN EXTREME CASES...DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS...POWER OUTAGES AND OTHER DISRUPTIONS CAN PERSIST FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME. FOR LESSER AMOUNTS OF ICE PRODUCED BY LIGHT FREEZING RAIN OR FREEZING DRIZZLE...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL USUALLY ISSUE A FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY. BLACK ICE DEVELOPS WHEN WATER...OTHER THAN FREEZING RAIN...FREEZES ON PAVED SURFACES. FOR INSTANCE...SNOW WHICH MELTS DURING THE DAY CAN REFREEZE ON ROADS AT NIGHT...PRODUCING PATCHES OF ICE WHICH ARE DIFFICULT TO DETECT BUT CAN PRODUCE LOCALLY HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. ALSO...DENSE FOG WHICH OCCURS AT TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING CAN SOMETIMES PRODUCE BLACK ICE. WHEN WE EXPECT LOCALIZED BLACK ICE...WE WILL ISSUE SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENTS TO ADDRESS THE DRIVING HAZARDS. IF WE EXPECT BLACK ICE TO BECOME WIDESPREAD...WE WILL ISSUE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BLACK ICE. YOUR RESPONSE TO OUR OUTLOOKS...WATCHES...WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES CAN DICTATE THE SUCCESS OF OUR SERVICES. FRIDAY...WE WILL BRIEFLY DISCUSS WINTER WEATHER PREPAREDNESS PLANS. CHECK OUT ADDITIONAL WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK INFORMATION ON OUR WEB PAGE AT WWW/ERH.NOAA.GOV/CHS/...AS WELL ON FACEBOOK AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/US.NATIONALWEATHERSERVICE.CHARLESTONSC.GOV. YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW @NWSCHARLESTONSC ON TWITTER. $$