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Paige Moore of Greenville lost power during the December 2005 ice storm and wound up staying at a hotel. With ice in the forecast today, she is more prepared.

Moore and her two children, Allyson and Andrew, went shopping Wednesday for an electric heater.

"We have a generator, but we really have no alternative heat," she said.

"We're looking for something that can run off of a small generator just so we can get by with heat."

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The snow is expected to hit first and leave about an inch on the ground. By late morning, it will change to a mixture of sleet and freezing rain, and the Upstate could get up to half an inch, said Harry Gerapetritis, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

The expected high temperature is 33 degrees, so by Thursday night, when the temperature drops, water left on the road will freeze, Gerapetritis said.

Duke Energy crews are bringing sleeping bags today in case they have to work more than one day, said Tim Pettit, a Duke Energy spokesman. Neighboring utilities have been called and put on standby.

Pettit said the storm's path appears to run parallel with Interstate 85, which is the geographic dividing line where the rain could stop and the ice could begin.

More than half a million Duke customers lost power in the December 2005 ice storm, some for a week or more.

Pettit said this may not be the traumatic experience of 2005. He said Duke's forecasters say they expect 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of ice.

"The issue isn't the ice loading on the lines -- it's the ice building on the trees," he said.

"A quarter inch or less doesn't give us much worry," he said.

Pettit said Interstate 85 many times is the demarcation between freezing and not freezing. "One or two degrees makes every difference in the world," he said.

He said there were ice accumulations of 3/4 inches on trees and power lines in 2005.

City and county crews spent the night monitoring the temperature on roads, bridges and overpasses. If the temperature falls to a certain level, the crews will put down a brine solution to help prevent freezing. If the road freezes, sand trucks will come in, said Mike Murphy, public works director for the City of Greenville.

Upstate residents such as Gladys Sherman and her daughter, Brandi, shopped Wednesday for bread and other essentials.

"I'm really just getting supplemental items," Sherman said. "I'm pretty much prepared other than if the power goes out. I have nothing more than a flashlight and candle and plenty of blankets."