Winter Weather Awareness week starts in SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Gov. Nikki Haley has declared Winter Weather Awareness Week in South Carolina.

Emergency officials are joining with the National Weather Service to give tips, warnings and advice about how to handle the occasional snow and ice storms that can hit South Carolina starting on Sunday.

While the state avoids winter weather some years, an ice storm hammered western and southern parts of South Carolina last February. An inch of ice collected in some areas, causing $260 million in damage and leaving more than 350,000 customers without power.

The earliest snow ever recorded fell in Columbia and points west on Nov. 1 this year with 5 inches of quick melting snow falling in some parts of Lexington County.

Winter Weather Awareness Week runs from Nov. 30 through Dec. 6.