Warmer weather thaws out South

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The thick blanket of snow that covers much of the Deep South may soon become just a memory with the arrival of warmer temperatures -- and probably rain -- over the weekend.

Frigid overnight temperatures were expected to freeze runoff and roads. But highs later Saturday and today were forecast for the 40s and 50s in the areas hardest hit by this week's winter storm, which dumped up to 16 inches on parts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. And another weather system threatening the region likely won't include much frozen precipitation, forecasters said.

Still, driving was likely to remain tricky early Saturday as below-freezing temperatures create slick spots on roads.

"The remnants of the weather are still causing problems," North Carolina Highway Patrol Sgt. Everett Clendenin said.

The winter blast, which swept through the South from Wednesday to early Friday, knocked out thousands of homes' electrical power and paralyzed a region ill-equipped to deal with such storms. Treacherous conditions were blamed for at least 10 traffic deaths.

In Raleigh, Steven White, an electrical engineer, took Thursday and Friday off rather than drive to work in nearby Cary. He had not driven his car since Wednesday.

White, 30, said he planned to head back to work Saturday.

"I'll just wait for the sun to be up and then I'll head out," he said. "I'm just being cautious."

South Carolina's governor ordered the state's 64,000 employees to stay home a second day Friday. In one 24-hour period Thursday and Friday, there were 1,120 traffic accidents in the state, about four times the usual number.

In Florida's Panhandle, where temperatures dipped to 19 degrees, an infant died in a house fire blamed on a space heater too close to a mattress. Heaters were also blamed for house fires that killed eight people in Louisiana and two in Alabama.

The storm left 8 inches of snow in parts of Georgia, the most in the state since 1993.