OKLAHOMA CITY - A second winter storm in as many days hit Oklahoma and Arkansas early Thursday, closing schools and keeping roads slick and dangerous.

The storm followed snow and freezing drizzle that fell on the area Wednesday, causing dozens of accidents and four deaths.

The first storm, meanwhile, moved into Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday, and forecasters warned that up to 4 inches of snow along with freezing rain could knock out power and plague drivers.

Schools and businesses across the area closed or opened late.

Chip Huffman, owner of Ace Hardware in Hickory, N.C., said his customers were mostly inquiring about heaters and kerosene.

''This morning we've got very little snow accumulation on the ground,'' Huffman said. ''People still don't believe what's going to happen yet.''

The storm led to three traffic deaths in Oklahoma, including one when a trucker lost control on an icy overpass, killing a man walking on a bridge. A woman died in Arkansas when her vehicle slid across a highway median and crashed with a tractor-trailer.

Oklahoma troopers said travel was improving Thursday, but roads throughout central and northeastern Oklahoma were still hazardous because of the second storm.

Up to 2 inches of snow was expected to fall by early afternoon, said meteorologist Cheryl Sharpe with the National Weather Service.

A three-day storm that hit Oklahoma beginning Jan. 12 caused 32 deaths and left more than 120,000 power outages across eastern Oklahoma.