Anyone in NC put on winter tires?

[Elgancho]

I'm thinking about ordering one of Tirerack's winter wheel/tire packages, but don't know if a true winter tire is necessary for NC. We'll usually get one snow/ice storm per year, so it seems like a tire like the Blizzak would just wear quickly and not do a whole lot of good. I do like the idea of steel wheels to do my own tire switches, but was thinking about just going with an all-season like the Potenza RE970AS Pole Position: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....PPXL&tab=Sizes

if you have put on a new tire/wheel package for winter, did you go a size down? tirerack's recommended winter package for the BRZ is a 16" wheel with 205/55R16 tires.

thanks for any advice.