Crews prep for messy, icy roads in the greater Chattanooga area

Chattanooga Public Works employees start to load sand trucks Thursday in preparation for winter weather forecast to be moving into the area.

Photo by John Rawlston.

Public works crews were out Thursday to sprinkle salt and spray brine on area roads ahead of potential icy conditions this morning.

Forecasters had issued a winter weather advisory for snow flurries with little accumulation and sinking temperatures.

"There may be some sleet in there as well," said Tim Doyle, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn. "There will be some slick spots, especially lower areas where water collects."

Chattanooga's Public Works Department prepared for the potentially icy conditions by pretreating area bridges with brine. In Signal Mountain, workers prepped hills and major roads with a thin layer of salt.

Ken Flynn, director of operations for Region 2 of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, said eight trucks were out in the county salting the roads that tend to freeze first.

"We've got a pretty good sized force waiting and watching," Flynn said Thursday.

Forecasters predicted temperatures would fall from around 40 degrees to the mid-20s.

Residents should expect winds of 15 to 20 miles per hour and some gusts up to 40 miles per hour, which could help dry out wet road and minimize icy conditions.

The wintry weather is expected to disappear as quickly as it arrived. Today's forecast is sunny with highs reaching the upper 40s by late morning.