Freezing rain fell across the central part of the state in the morning and reached the Pee Dee and coastal areas by afternoon. Sleet fell in the Upstate on Sunday and early Monday.

Six fatal traffic accidents were caused by the icy conditions: two in Orangeburg County, one in Richland County, one in Laurens County and two in the Pee Dee region, said Department of Public Safety spokesman Sid Gaulden. The Highway Patrol responded to more than 1,500 collisions between Sunday night and Monday afternoon, Gaulden said.

More than 1,300 S.C. Department of Transportation employees were working to clear roads and bridges as of 5 p.m. Monday evening.

Major utilities in South Carolina reported about 88,000 power outages, but some reports that included smaller providers put the number at nearly 200,000. Power company crews, many working in the rain, were hampered by frozen roads and ice-laden power lines constantly breaking.

"The problem right now is that as we get one power line repaired, another one comes down with the weight of the ice," said Christy Ferrell, spokeswoman for South Carolina Electric and Gas Co., which provides electricity in the Midlands and lower half of the state.

A winter storm warning was posted for most of the day in the mountains, foothills, Piedmont, north Midlands and Pee Dee. A winter weather advisory was in effect for much of the rest of the state.

The National Weather Service in Charleston predicted up to less than a fourth of an inch of freezing rain would fall in inland Jasper County before the rain stops around midnight, said meteorologist Bob Bright. Beaufort County wasn't expected to get any freezing rain overnight, but rain was predicted through about midnight.

Today's high is expected to reach into the lower 50s, Bright said.

Beaufort County School District officials said Monday they were keeping an eye on the weather.

District spokesman John Williams said district officials would rely on the county's emergency management department to tell them whether the weather is hazardous, including ice on bridges and overpasses.

"We like to make the decision as early as possible," Williams said.

Jasper County School District decided before school let out Monday that today's classes would be delayed for one hour because of the possibility of ice storms overnight.

The problematic weather started Sunday when rain from the north started falling and freezing, sticking to trees and wires, roads and cars, according to meteorologist Leonard Vaughan with the National Weather Service in Columbia.

Reports of sleet and ice came in from as far southeast as Myrtle Beach, where a 10th of an inch had been reported inland. There were snow showers in Florence and North Myrtle Beach early Monday.

Some flights leaving and coming into South Carolina airports were canceled or delayed, and officials encouraged travelers to call to check flight information.

All flights before noon to and from Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport were canceled Monday, and about a half-dozen flights were expected to arrive at the airport later in the night, said airport police Chief Tom Watson.

At airports in Columbia and Charleston, some flights had been canceled or delayed. In Charleston, most of the half-dozen flights were canceled because of conditions in the northeastern part of the country.