Cars follow a road grader as it clears the snow from Winchester Road as heavy snow falls in Huntsville Ala. on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. Roads crusted with icy slush left over from as much as a foot of snow made travel dangerous across north Alabama early Thursday, but forecasters said temperatures should rise enough to melt away many of the problems. (AP Photo/AL.com, Eric Schultz)
An Alabama Department of Transportation crew sands U.S. 31 in Kimberly, Ala., Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. From the Deep South to the Mid-Atlantic, another winter storm was expected to bring more snow and ice Wednesday to many areas that were hit hard just last week. (AP Photo/AL.com, Mark Almond) 
Traffic travels on I-65 in heavy snow in Warrior, Ala., Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. From the Deep South to the Mid-Atlantic, another winter storm was expected to bring more snow and ice Wednesday to many areas that were hit hard just last week. (AP Photo/AL.com, Mark Almond) MAGAZINES OUTGADSDEN, Ala. (AP) - Roads crusted with icy slush left over from as much as a foot of snow made travel dangerous across north Alabama early Thursday, but rising temperatures began melting away some of the problems.
The Alabama Department of Transportation plowed snow off major roads, and the sun peeked through at times to help. Still, dozens of drivers spent hours in vehicles stuck overnight on a slippery Interstate 65 north of Birmingham because of wrecks.
Power outages affected about 12,000 homes and businesses at daybreak, according to Alabama Power Co., but crews worked to restore electrical service.
Conditions were bad enough in the Tennessee Valley that the Huntsville City Council canceled a meeting set for Thursday night. Municipal court and trash pickup also was delayed.
High temperatures were expected to reach the upper 30s and low 40s. Forecasters said the weather should be warm enough to clear many roads, but lingering water could refreeze earlyFriday, with temperatures again predicted to fall below freezing.
In northeastern Alabama in Etowah County, Chuck Gilbert of Gadsden got up early to take his wife to work at a nursing home and needed about 30 minutes to make the 6-mile trip down snow-covered Noccalula Mountain.
"I had to go slow coming down it. It was pretty bad, slipping and sliding," Gilbert said outside a convenience store that was closed because of the weather.
Schools and government office across the northern half of the state shut down for the day or planned to open late because of the snowfall.
The National Weather Service said preliminary reports showed a foot of snow fell in Marion County, near the Mississippi state line, with 12.7 inches in the town of Guin and 11 inches in Lamar County.
Areas in the state's northeastern and northwestern corners could break snowfall records dating to the 1890s once all the totals are in, forecasters said.
Snowfall totals of 6 inches and more were common across a wide area north of Interstate 20. The story was different just south of I-20, with Shelby County receiving 1 inch of snow or less.
