Pinehurst Resort after a light snow on January 23, 2022 (David Sinclair | For the North State Journal) RALEIGH — Residents and officials across North Carolina are bracing for a powerful winter storm expected to produce snow and high winds Friday and Saturday. Heavy snow and strong winds were forecasted to begin in parts of N.C. on Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service. The system will then intensify as a nor’easter and bring snowy conditions up the East Coast to New England, where forecasters warned of localized snowfall totals of up to 20 inches and wind gusts of…