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RALEIGH (AP) — Police warned drivers to be careful today on icy back roads in North Carolina as temperatures stayed below freezing across the state the day after one driver died after sliding off into a tree.

"Secondary roads are the concern," Capt. Everett Clendenin of the North Carolina Highway patrol said a day after troopers responded to more than 2,500 accident calls during the winter storm.

Schools and government offices were closed or delayed openings in many counties, but road conditions were described as quiet. The Army's Fort Bragg delayed opening for three hours and Marines at Camp Lejeune were told not to report until noon.

The forecast of slick roads caused North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue to declare a state of emergency Tuesday. Perdue urged cautious driving and said people should leave for work early.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford delayed the Wednesday opening of state offices in Chesterfield and Lancaster counties for two hours, but operations were normal elsewhere.

Forecasters issued a winter weather advisory until 9 a.m. for 28 counties in central North Carolina and two counties in South Carolina.

Clendenin said Edward Wayne Dudley, 57, of Creedmoor died Tuesday afternoon in the Granville County wreck on State Route 1618 south of Oxford. Dudley slid off the road and hit a tree. Up to 3 inches of snow fell in the county.

A North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper was recovering from bumps and bruises he sustained when a car hit him as he helped another driver in the snow. Clendenin said doctors feared Sgt. Gerry Mouzon, 49, had broken bones, but x-rays showed no breaks.

Mouzon was hit by a vehicle on Tuesday while he was changing a tire in Garner for a stranded motorist.

Snow depths in North Carolina ranged from 1 inch to as much as 7 inches in parts of Chatham, Johnston and Wake counties. In South Carolina, the deepest snow was along the North Carolina border, with 6 inches in Pageland, 4 inches in Chesterfield and 3 inches in Dillon.

The National Weather Service said temperatures ranged from 21 degrees in Wilmington to 14 in Asheville with subfreezing levels in between. In South Carolina, the temperature hit 20 in Spartanburg and 21 at Myrtle Beach on Wednesday morning.

Snow fell in Wilmington for the first time in five years, but less than an inch was recorded. An inch fell in Calabash and 3 inches fell in Tabor City.

The one-day storm headed out to sea after surprising some parts of eastern North Carolina, even dusting beaches with snow.

"It is done," said meteorologist Jason Beaman of the weather service. "It is well into the north Atlantic and not bothering anybody at this point."

Associated Press writers Jack Jones in Columbia, S.C., and Estes Thompson in Raleigh contributed to this report.