The Latest: 2 more basketball games postponed due to weather
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - The Latest on a winter storm pounding parts of the U.S. (all times local):
8:30 p.m.
The threat of winter weather has forced the postponement of two basketball games in the Portland, Oregon, area.
The game between the Trail Blazers and the Detroit Pistons, scheduled for Saturday night, was postponed and moved to Sunday.
No. 5 Gonzaga's scheduled men's basketball game at Portland also was postponed, although no makeup date was announced.
The West Coast Conference said the rescheduled game will be played at the Chiles Center in Portland.
___
7:30 p.m.
Virginia State Police say slick roads have caused more than 500 crashes, including one that was fatal.
State Police Spokeswoman Corinne Geller said a man died in a Greene County crash that's being blamed on slick roads. She says the man's SUV struck another vehicle, then ran off the road and overturned in a creek.
The man, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the hospital. He has not yet been identified.
The snow has moved out of Virginia, but police say driving conditions remain dangerous and are encouraging people to stay off the roads.
6:10 p.m.
Authorities in Georgia say a 20-year-old Georgia State University student headed to Atlanta has been killed after his SUV crashed on Interstate 75 in Monroe County.
Multiple media outlets report Malik Jordan of Albany was headed north Saturday when his car hit a patch of ice on a bridge over Ga. 42, causing him to lose control. Sheriff's Sgt. Lawson Bittick says the car left the road and hit a tree.
Jordan was pronounced dead at the scene.
Bittick says inclement weather and speed were factors in the crash.
___
4:20 p.m.
Winter weather and potentially dangerous road conditions led officials to postpone the men's college basketball game between 14th-ranked North Carolina and North Carolina State that was scheduled for Saturday night.
In a news release Saturday, UNC said the game would be played at 1 p.m. Sunday. That comes after a storm brought snow and freezing rain to the area starting Friday night and running into Saturday afternoon.
UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said in a statement that school officials "are not comfortable with the idea that thousands of people ... would be leaving the arena tonight after 10 p.m."
Temperatures are expected to remain below freezing Sunday. Cunningham said officials "think there is a huge difference between driving in the daylight as opposed to this evening."
___
2:20 p.m.
A crash involving as many as 20 vehicles has closed a section of a Connecticut highway as heavy snow falls in southern New England.
The pileup on Interstate 91 in Middletown occurred Saturday afternoon and involved at least three tractor-trailers. No serious injuries were reported.
Up to 8 inches of snow were expected in parts of Connecticut, but areas along the southeastern Massachusetts coast could get 1 to 2 feet before the storm moves away later Saturday.
Blizzard conditions were reported on Cape Cod and Plymouth County. Officials warned people to stay off the roads as the heavy snow and gusty winds were expected to reduce visibility to near zero.
Officials at Boston's Logan International Airport urged travelers to check with their airlines and numerous flights were canceled or delayed.
___
11:50 a.m.
Trucks and cars are inching along icy roads and highways, from Alabama to Virginia as a winter storm pounds the southern region.
Forecasters say the frozen precipitation could linger for hours or longer as temperatures staying below freezing.
A wide area Alabama was pelted with sleet and a light blanket of snow Friday night and early Saturday, causing the hazardous conditions. Hundreds of accidents were reported in North Carolina and Virginia.
Some roads were closed and authorities advised drivers to stay off others, but not everyone listened. Video showed slow-moving cars and trucks on interstate highways in Georgia and Alabama, and vehicles were abandoned on roadsides.
___
10:45
Most flights have been canceled at Norfolk's airport because of the winter storm, the latest disruption to hit airports in the region.
The website for Norfolk International Airport shows that every arriving flight has been cancelled for Saturday, as well as most departing flights.
In North Carolina, Raleigh's airport said there were many cancellations and it expected very few flights to arrive or depart on Saturday. Charlotte's airport also said its operations were limited.
Atlanta's airport said that some flights have been canceled but that regular takeoffs and landings were resuming.
With southeast Virginia next in the storm's path, police in Newport News say roads in the city are "extremely hazardous." The National Weather Service reports nearly six inches of snow at its Wakefield office.
The Virginia National Guard says about 200 members are staged at firehouses around southeast Virginia with Humvees and trucks to help police and firefighters.
___
8:45 a.m.
Traffic is barely crawling across parts of central Mississippi on Saturday morning, with 18-wheel trucks pulled over on the shoulders of icy highways in spots.
Jackson's city streets were supposed to be filled with runners Saturday, but organizers canceled the annual Mississippi Blues Marathon, citing weather and travel conditions.
Drivers are struggling to make it up hills in some places, including an off-ramp from an interstate leading to two of Jackson's largest hospitals.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation is advising people to stay off roads, saying Friday night that it was focusing on getting stranded motorists to safety. Hours of sleet coated parts of the state Friday.
It's unclear when conditions will improve, as temperatures are supposed to remain below freezing until midday Sunday in Jackson.
___
9:15 a.m.
North Carolina's governor says winter weather has caused numerous car crashes and is urging people to stay off the roads.
Gov. Roy Cooper said Saturday that there were at least 260 traffic accidents between midnight and 6 a.m. as the winter storm blew in. Authorities say they haven't confirmed any weather-related deaths.
Cooper says that even after precipitation is expected to stop later in the day, bitter cold will blow in and refreeze any melted slush on roads.
He says the heaviest snow fell on an area stretching northeast from the Triad area around Greensboro to counties along the Virginia border.
The National Weather Service says Greensboro, Burlington and Roxboro have had more than 8 inches of snow.
___
6:45 a.m.
A snow storm in the South is causing airline cancellations and power outages.
Duke Energy said early Saturday there were about 14,000 outages in the Carolinas. That includes about 3,000 in the county surrounding Charlotte and more than 4,000 in neighboring Union County.
Raleigh-Durham International Airport said its staff worked through the night to clear runways. It said most airlines had canceled flights through mid-morning.
The Charlotte airport said it would open with limited operations after de-icing 70 planes on Friday and plowing of the airfield. It advised travelers to check their carrier for cancellations.
Roads were also treacherous. The South Carolina Highway Patrol said there was significant snow on roads in the northern part of the state and asked drivers to stay home.
___
5:30 a.m.
People across much of North Carolina are waking up to a blanket of snow.
The National Weather Service said early Saturday that cities including Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Roxboro had more than six inches of snow and sleet. A wintry mix heavier on sleet is pelting Raleigh and other parts of the state to the southeast.
Several more hours of precipitation are expected in North Carolina, with the storm headed toward Virginia.
North Carolina's governor has urged people to stay off the roads.
___
3:00 a.m.
Snow, sleet and freezing rain pelted a wide swath of the South overnight, turning roads icy and impassable in spots amid reports of car crashes as many braced for up to a foot of snow in parts of the Carolinas and Virginia.
New North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper was supposed to have been sworn in Saturday at an outdoor ceremony attended by thousands. He instead rushed through a 20-minute indoor oath-taking Friday.
"Consider yourselves the chosen few," Cooper jokingly told family, friends and well-wishers able to attend his swearing-in Friday.
Much of North Carolina is under a winter storm warning until 7 p.m. Saturday and southeast Virginia was under a blizzard warning. Meanwhile, ice and snow on some roads in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia made driving hazardous.
___
This story has been corrected to remove a reference to flights to and from Jackson, Mississippi, being cancelled Saturday. It's unclear how many flights may operate Saturday.
___
This story corrects the first entry to remove a reference to flights to and from Jackson being canceled.