Old Man Winter dished out another helping of winter weather in Caldwell County as a second major snow storm pounded the area Friday and Saturday.

Snow started falling around 4:30 p.m. Friday and continued to fall steadily throughout the night into Saturday before turning over to heavy sleet. The snow and sleet finally tapered off later Saturday afternoon, but by the time precipitation was finished another 6-8 inches of snow (maybe more in outlying areas of the county) had been dumped on the landscape.

The winter storm system formed from moisture out of the Gulf of Mexico merging with a cold air mass that will remain in place a little longer. The end result was the second major snow event for Caldwell County and western North Carolina in the last six weeks. Nearly a foot of snow covered the county Dec. 18-19 when the first storm hit.

Caldwell County Emergency Services reported little in the way of any major issues. The Emergency Operations Center opened at 3 p.m. Friday but closed by noon Saturday. Outside of normal medical calls, it was a relatively quiet couple of days.

Emergency Services officials said Saturday that there were no significant power outages reported from Blue Ridge Electric and Duke Energy in Caldwell County.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol also reported no major traffic issues. There were a number of cars on the shoulders and in medians or ditches as a result of the slick driving conditions, but the county had no significant crashes as a result of the snow and ice.

“It’s not been that bad, all things considered,” NCHP Sgt. B.E. Morgan said. “Maybe the fact that it happened on Friday night and Saturday kept people at home. We’ve seen fewer people on the roads.”

Morgan issued a word of caution, however, for those who were planning to travel.

“It’s best to stay home if you don’t have to be out,” he said. “The roads are still treacherous. They are very slick, and very few of them are clear. If you do have to drive, use caution.”

The best driving practices in conditions of snow and ice include burning headlights to allow your vehicle to be seen better, increasing following distances, slowing down, paying attention to the road and being sure to buckle up.

Rodney Gantt, county maintenance engineer for the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division of Highways office in Caldwell, said a lot of the county’s road were covered Saturday, but crews in plows and motor graders were starting to make some headway in getting the top layer of snow off of some, spreading salt at the same time.

“They’re covered,” he said. “Some of the primary roads are passable, but there’s a layer we’ve not been able to plow.”

NCDOT crews spread a brine solution on county roads Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and they were putting salt out on primary roads Saturday in an attempt to help loosen up some of the compacted snow and ice that had formed on higwhays.

“We’re trying to get them open to the bare pavement where they were packed overnight,” Gantt said. “Traffic on the passable roads is moving, but it’s slow.”

Gantt also advised motorists to stay home unless they absolutely had to be out.

“They should stay home for their safety, but that also allows our crews to work better without a lot of traffic.” Gantt said. “If they have to drive, they need to be slow.”

Gantt’s biggest concern is with the colder temperatures in the forecast. With overnight lows expected to be in the middle teens Saturday night and a low predicted to dip into double digits tonight, the concern is that there will be a lot of freezing water on roads from the snow and ice.

“The temperatures will be low, and that’s going to make it that much worse,” Gantt said. “Everything on the roads will refreeze, and that takes longer to knock it off.”

Sunshine is in the forecast for today, though the high is only expected to reach 35. Monday’s forecast also calls for sunny conditions with a high of 40. The overnight low will be in the low 20s. Partly cloudy conditions with temperatures in the mid-40s are expected Tuesday and Wednesday, but the extended outlook given by the National Weather Services calls for a chance of snow and ice Thursday and Friday.