LEBANON — A “massive and large-scale” winter storm is bringing snow, sleet and ice to the Upper Valley, warns the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service’s winter storm warning for Lebanon went into effect 1 p.m. Thursday and was scheduled through 7 p.m. Friday. Forecasters predict that rain will turn to ice snow on Friday evening, with as much as 16 inches accumulating.

“What has our team’s attention is the potential for heavy wet snow and ice. Both of those things are very heavy and can weigh down trees and power lines,” said Kristin Kelly, a spokesperson for Green Mountain Power.

GMP has pre-positioned its repair crews and brought in crews from outside Vermont to help with any outages. But treacherous travel conditions can slow repairs, Kelly warned. The utility recommends keeping a charged cellphone, a flashlight with fresh batteries and bottled water on hand in case of an outage.

The storm’s impact stretches across the United States from Texas to Maine. As of Thursday afternoon, over 74,000 customers were still without power in Texas and another 84,000 were without power in Tennessee. Over 5,800 flights were canceled Thursday.

Air temperatures near 40 degrees Fahrenheit and road temperatures hovering around 32 degrees Fahrenheit are a “recipe for black ice as we enter this morning’s commute,” the Vermont Agency of Transportation, known as VTrans, warned early Thursday.

But roads warmed during the day, alleviating icy conditions. In southeastern Vermont, VTrans employees spent their days loading equipment and securing tire chains so trucks could hold their own against the ice, district administrator Joe Ruzzo said, adding that he expects his team to be working “around the clock” until Saturday morning.

While he advised drivers to allow for extra time and distance between cars, he predicted roads would still be passable although they will be snow-covered while the crews are out. Windsor and Orange counties will likely see more snow, while Windham County to the south is forecast to see more ice, which makes for more dangerous road conditions.

Meanwhile in Lebanon, James Donison, director of public works, is preparing for a storm while his highway crew of 12 has two openings and three employees out for medical reasons. Other members of the town staff, including the cemetery sexton and wastewater treatment plant operator, will be taking shifts on the plows during the storm.

With rain still falling into Thursday afternoon, road crews could not get a head start on treating roads, Donison said. If they didn’t wait to apply layers of salt and liquid magnesium chloride to the roads, the rain would wash it away.

On driveways and some small roads, drivers already found slippery conditions on Thursday morning. Vermont Law School canceled classes because of black ice. One student slipped and fell, resulting in a 911 call.

Layne Millington, the Orange Southwest School District superintendent, did not expect to have to close schools on Thursday. Then, he heard from bus drivers starting their early morning routes. The rain had washed away the sand and salt, leaving ice room to creep over the roads. Students in his district had their first snow day of the year on Thursday.

“The main roads were in very good shape — the back roads where most of our students live, many at higher elevations, were very icy,” Millington wrote.

Orange East Supervisory Union also closed schools Thursday. Meanwhile, Rivendell School District closed its aftercare early at 4 p.m. and announced that school would be canceled Friday.

Like many other superintendents in the Upper Valley, Jay Badams, superintendent of School Administrative Unit 70, which includes Hanover and Norwich, said he would wait to see weather conditions before deciding whether or not to cancel school on Friday. But he did confirm that new remote capabilities built during the COVID-19 pandemic would not interfere with any snow-day traditions: If school is canceled, there will be no remote instruction.

The Thompson Senior Center in Woodstock closed on Thursday after the chef discovered a treacherous layer of ice frozen over the snow in the parking lot, director Deanna Jones said. The center already sent an extra 180 meals to its 50 Meals on Wheels clients to help them through the storm and the weekend.

“It was just too treacherous to want patrons coming out,” she said.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has prepared her staff to serve their clients remotely during severe storms.

“We’re really good at serving people from home — still answering questions, helping with tax packets and transportation,” she said. And Friday morning bingo was already hybrid, so transitioning it to an all-phone event would go smoothly.

Claire Potter is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at cpotter@vnews.com or 603-727- 3242.