****UPDATE: NWS officials upgraded Orange County from a Winter Weather Advisory to a Winter Storm Warning on Friday afternoon. The warning is in effect until 4 p.m. Saturday.****

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Orange County from nine o’clock Friday morning until four o’clock Saturday afternoon.

The advisory from the National Weather Service includes Orange and Durham counties and areas to the west through the Piedmont region.

It is a bit unusual to have a chance of snow or any form of a wintry mix in central North Carolina in early December. But that’s where we find ourselves this year.

And emergency officials are taking advantage of this opportunity to make sure residents of the Tar Heel State are prepared for the possibility of more severe weather over the next few months.

Orange County Emergency Services officials tweeted preparation tips on Thursday, which include preparing for a potential power loss by gathering warm clothes, checking flashlight and radio batteries and charging mobile devices to include in an emergency kit – which should have three days worth of water and non-perishable food, only using generators in open areas to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning and bringing pets inside and moving livestock to sheltered area and ensuring they have non-frozen drinking water.

The first threat of wintry weather for North Carolina this season also happens to come during what Governor Roy Cooper has deemed Winter Weather Preparedness Week.

Photo via National Weather Service Forecast Projection as of 8 a.m. Friday

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