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<p>ATLANTA (AP) &#8212; Panicked shoppers emptied shelves of bread and milk, road workers began working 12-hour shifts, and governors in Alabama and Georgia declared states of emergencies ahead of a winter storm stalking the South.</p><p>The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for later Friday and Saturday from eastern Alabama through north Georgia, including Atlanta, and into the Carolinas and part of Virginia. Schools canceled classes in several states, and Alabama and Georgia issued emergency declarations ahead of the storm.</p><p>The approaching storm is a significant threat for the Southeast, said Mike Schichtel, lead forecaster at the federal government&#8217;s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.</p><p>&#8220;If you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle and you think you&#8217;re safe, you&#8217;re not,&#8221; Schichtel said. &#8220;Take it very seriously and adjust your travel plans accordingly.&#8221;</p><p>In Atlanta, where memories of a catastrophic snow and ice storm in 2014 are still fresh, city leaders were pleading with motorists not to venture out onto slick highways. The earlier storm brought traffic to a standstill on major freeways in metro Atlanta, and office workers were forced to spend the night in their cars, stuck in the gridlock.</p><p>Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said plans were in place for schools, companies and governments to dismiss students and workers early to avoid a repeat of the 2014 storm, when thousands of commuters left at nearly the same time, contributing to the epic traffic jam.</p><p>&#8220;Our goal, including the goal of the state, is to have everyone off metropolitan Atlanta roadways by 4 p.m.,&#8221; Reed said. &#8220;We need you home by 4, we need you to leave the city in an orderly fashion.&#8221;</p><p>At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world&#8217;s busiest airport, Delta Air Lines on Friday announced that 350 flights had been cancelled ahead of the storm.</p><p>A mix of rain and sleet was expected across portions of Georgia on Friday. Two to 4 inches of snow could cover much of the state by Saturday morning, forecasters said. Snow-removal trucks and dozens of road workers from south Georgia were moved north to help clear roads, the Georgia Department of Transportation said. Many workers were on 12-hour shifts.</p><p>School districts across the region were either closing or calling off classes. Saturday&#8217;s ceremonies formally marking the inauguration of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper have been canceled. Activities scheduled for Friday will go on as planned.</p><p>Shoppers were heeding the warnings and were out in force in search of staples like milk, bread and eggs.</p><p>Sherrill Suitt Craig went shopping at a store near her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, but she had to leave for a grocer in nearby Wake Forest because her initial stop was too crowded. Snowfall across the state was expected to range from 1 inch around Lumberton to as much as 9 inches around Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh.</p><p>&#8220;I have no idea why, but people are acting like complete jackasses when they hear that there is snow in the forecast,&#8221; Craig said. &#8220;I was just doing my regular shopping.&#8221;</p><p>The storm was blamed for one road fatality Thursday in Kentucky. Daniel Noble, 55, died after he rounded a curve in his pickup truck and slid into a rail fence about 14 miles south of the city of Jackson, authorities said.</p><p>To the west, heavy snow and strong winds have raised the danger of avalanches in the Colorado high country. A storm tracking across central California is dumping significant snow on the mountains, while a winter storm has already coated northern Utah with 9 inches of snow, forcing officials to cancel or delay classes Thursday.</p><p>The National Weather Service said snow accumulating for several weeks in Boise, Idaho, reached 15 inches Thursday and broke the previous snow-depth record of 13 inches set twice in the mid-1980s.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Lindsey Hodges shops at Kroger located off of Alps Rd. in Athens, Ga., Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. A menacing winter storm approaching the South could bring freezing rain to states as far south as Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and up to 8 inches of snow in parts of North Carolina and Virginia, forecasters said. The storm also brings the threat of freezing rain to parts of the Deep South including Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. (John Roark/Athens Banner-Herald via AP)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_114391146-599cc720bc4440d5871befe4ce62d879.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lindsey Hodges shops at Kroger located off of Alps Rd. in Athens, Ga., Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. A menacing winter storm approaching the South could bring freezing rain to states as far south as Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and up to 8 inches of snow in parts of North Carolina and Virginia, forecasters said. The storm also brings the threat of freezing rain to parts of the Deep South including Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. (John Roark/Athens Banner-Herald via AP)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_114391146-28a6aaec2ccf46779773131f80d65fc4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Danny Morgan, left, shops at Kroger located off of Alps Rd. in Athens, Ga., Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. Forecasters are calling for 1-3 inches of snow throughout the weekend in the area. Winter storm watches Thursday covered large parts of Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas ahead of the storm system that threatens to spread a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow across the region.  (John Roark/Athens Banner-Herald via AP)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_114391146-28a6aaec2ccf46779773131f80d65fc4.jpg</photo1><caption1>Danny Morgan, left, shops at Kroger located off of Alps Rd. in Athens, Ga., Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. Forecasters are calling for 1-3 inches of snow throughout the weekend in the area. Winter storm watches Thursday covered large parts of Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas ahead of the storm system that threatens to spread a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow across the region.  (John Roark/Athens Banner-Herald via AP)</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_114391146-c802091291724707ab9ca8225a1827d5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lucinda Anderson, of Bowling Green, Ky., left, and her daughter Shaye Rabold, of Lexington, Ky., walk through Fountain Square Park to get to their car in Bowling Green on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. School districts in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia either closed or called off classes as early as snow began falling there Thursday and more cancellations were planned Friday, including by school systems in central Alabama amid the threat of up to 3 inches of snow and sleet. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_114391146-c802091291724707ab9ca8225a1827d5.jpg</photo2><caption2>Lucinda Anderson, of Bowling Green, Ky., left, and her daughter Shaye Rabold, of Lexington, Ky., walk through Fountain Square Park to get to their car in Bowling Green on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. School districts in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia either closed or called off classes as early as snow began falling there Thursday and more cancellations were planned Friday, including by school systems in central Alabama amid the threat of up to 3 inches of snow and sleet. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP)</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By JEFF MARTIN and TOM FOREMAN Jr.</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

Southern states rushing to prepare for snowstorm to avoid repeat of 2014