All of that snow and ice is about to thaw or melt, and Middle Tennessee residents may soon once again travel to the grocery store or other places of interest and not risk having an accident.
National Weather Service meteorologist John Cohen updated The Tennessee Star on Thursday about the latest weather conditions and when Middle Tennessee residents will finally get a break.
“Tomorrow [Friday] morning will be pretty bad on secondary roads. Tomorrow [Friday] afternoon the high is only going to be in the low 30s. We do have some sunshine, though. Tomorrow, when that sun comes out, that will really help us. Now it won’t melt everything. Then Friday night we will have lows near 12 [degrees],” Cohen said from his office in Nashville.
“Saturday we are in the upper 30s with sunshine. You will see some improvement on Friday, but it will still be slow going. I think you will see a good many people trying to get out on Friday with that sunshine being out. The key is the next two mornings will be very dangerous. With those cold temperatures and anything that melts. You have liquid. It’s going to freeze, and that can be a problem. We may be close to being back to normal on Sunday.”
Tennessee Emergency Management officials said in an emailed press release Thursday that snow and ice accumulations have continued to impact roadways in West Tennessee and Middle Tennessee. TEMA officials reported that several counties in the state still had storm-related power outages.
Tennessee Department of Health officials, meanwhile, reported six weather-related fatalities: two in Shelby County, one in Maury County, one in Williamson County, one in Dickson County, and one in Overton County.
Metro Nashville officials said in a press release that all non-essential Metro Nashville-Davidson County facilities are closed Friday.
Metro Nashville Public Schools will open Friday — all virtually.
“This means attendance will be taken and all students, whether they would normally report to school in person or virtually, should log in and prepare for a full day of learning remotely,” Metro Nashville officials said in the press release.
“Any additional closures after Thursday would result in extending the school year. As such, the district will be relying on virtual school days for any inclement weather events for the remainder of the school year.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
