As Fern leaves, county exhales

ASHEBORO — As Fern set its sights on the area at the beginning of last week, the initial fear was as much as 20 inches being dropped on the county from the gigantic winter storm. 

Empty shelves of bread, milk and eggs were evidence. State of Emergency declarations by Asheboro and Randleman, too.

As the week wore on, however, snow projections dropped drastically as ice worries increased. How many people would be without power? And with a week-long cold snap setting in after the storm, how long?

Yet even closer to the storm’s arrival Saturday evening, a new question emerged: Was it turning northward enough that there would be no snow at all? Had that happened, the headline at the top of this page would have been “Oh snow you didn’t!”

In the end, the snow did come, not in great gobs but at least a few inches depending on your location, enough to satisfy those wanting to see at least one snow every winter. The ice fell, too, but not as dastardly as feared. As local Fox 8 meteorologist Van Denton said after the storm passed, “If you’ve still got your power, you should keep your power.”

Still, businesses and schools felt the impact. One example: At the end of the week, Flying Pig owners posted on Facebook they had to sell a week’s worth of food before the storm hit.

But compared to what happened north and west of us in much of the rest of the country, we’ll take the win.

For more photos from an intense week to remember, see the printed Hub on Wednesday. See the retail locations at left.