Around 12:30 p.m., the snow began to fall. And it was still falling as nightfall arrived Friday evening.

As of 7 p.m., 5 1/4 inches of snow had covered the ground, according to records at F.G. Doggett Water Plant in Toast, which is the official weather monitoring station for Mount Airy.

The snow started falling within the city limits about 15 minutes after reports started coming in that precipitation was visible in Pilot Mountain, Lowgap and Lambsburg, Va.

Once the ground temperature had dropped enough for the snow to stick to the road, things heated up at Surry County 911 Communications, where numerous wrecks were called in and dispatched. Communications reported that wreck calls began coming in to the center at 1 p.m., and as of 3 p.m., 54 wrecks had been paged out.

John Shelton, Surry County Emergency Management Services director, estimated at 5:30 p.m. that more than 100 wrecks had been reported.

“It’s continuing to rise,” he then said.

The first reports of accidents came from the central to western area of the county on or around I-77 and I-74, then wreck reports began coming from across the county.

Shelton said many of the wrecks involved vehicles going into ditches, but no serious injuries were reported to him by 5:30 p.m. The only injury related to the cold weather was a 70-year-old man who had a cardiac arrest while he was outside.

Shelton said vehicles couldn’t travel very fast which prevented more serious injuries. Still, he said the county hasn’t seen wrecks like this since the last large snowfall 10 years ago.

“We’ve had a significant amount of vehicles out. Nobody’s been used to this for many, many years ... And that’s what’s going to hurt us,” Shelton remarked.

Emergency services is now looking at checking up throughout the night on people with special needs. If large power outages occur, shelters should be set up.

While power outages were being reported in the state’s western counties, only one outage was listed on Duke Energy’s outages Web page at 5:30 p.m.

Shelton said they are urging people to stay at home. If people have to go out, he suggests letting family members know where they are going and taking blankets and snacks.

Due to the snow, the Mount Airy Police Department closed off Frederick Street from Old Pine State to Mayberry Mall at 4 p.m. for around 35 minutes so the road could be salted. Part of Rockford Street where it crosses Worth Street was also shut down for a few minutes for the same reason. The MAPD reported at 5:40 p.m. that all roads were open at that time.

More snow was expected through the night, according to the National Weather Service forecast from Blacksburg, Va., which monitors the Surry County area.

Accumulation of three to five inches was expected Friday afternoon, with new snow fall of eight to 12 inches possible during the overnight hours. Also, winds were expected to be at 8 to 15 mph, gusting up to 25 mph.

The snow is expected to slow down, if not quit altogether, by around 1 p.m. today.

Temperatures aren’t forecast to increase above 33 in the next 24 to 36 hours.