UPDATE: The Polk County (Tennessee) Sheriff’s office reports snow on some roads warns residents not to travel if they don’t have to.
“What is on the roads will be freezing as the temps continue to fall,” Polk County officials state in a post on the department’s Facebook page.
Polk County General Sessions Court is also closed for the day with all of today’s cases moved to Feb. 6, officials said.
Polk County EMA director Steve Lofty said Tuesday morning that the most accumulation of snow came in the south end of the county and in the Georgia counties just over the state line.
“We got snow – maybe an inch, inch and a half – in Benton,” Lofty said. “There may be 2 to 2.5 inches in the south end of the county. All our traffic’s moving.”
Mountainous areas of Polk County got more snow than valley areas, he said, “but we’re not hearing anything about problems.”
“I think our big concern is as the temperature fall that our back roads are going to ice over,” Lofty said.
Parts of McMinn County got an inch or so of snow and some roads on the eastern side of the county are covered, according to a Facebook post by McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy.
“There appears to be a little more snow east of Athens, but as temps drop, watch for slick spots,” Guy said in his post.
Around the Chattanooga region, Sequatchie County officials report that most roads are clear but there are a few slick spots, especially on secondary roads, and officials at the Bledsoe County Rescue Squad and Grundy County Sheriff’s Office reported similar conditions in other posts.
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UPDATE: TDOT SmartWay Traffic cameras along Interstate 24 on Monteagle Mountain show a light accumulation of snow but roads are clear and traffic is relatively light with no accidents reported.
North of Chattanooga on I-75 in Cleveland and Athens, light snow lines the shoulders and median but the road in both directions is clear from Chattanooga to Knoxville. A disabled vehicle was reported on the shoulder at 8:43 a.m. on the southbound side of I-75 near the I-24 split but it’s not slowing traffic.
To the south, Georgia Department of Transportation traffic cameras show no traffic problems or snow accumulation along I-75. Likewise, traffic cameras in Alabama also show little or no snow and no traffic problems so far this morning.
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ORIGINAL STORY: Predicted snowfall didn’t happen in Chattanooga though higher elevations in some surrounding counties might have gotten a dusting of snow early Tuesday as cold weather moved in.
WRCB Channel 3 meteorologist David Karnes said in his online weather blog that snow for the day is over in the Chattanooga area and skies will be clearing through late morning and into the afternoon.
There are some slippery spots in some areas so everyone should be careful on untreated roads, Karnes noted. Roberts Mill and W roads were closed around 2 a.m. Tuesday.
“Temps will rebound a little, but it will still be cold and blustery this afternoon with temps in the mid-30s and winds from the north at 10-15 mph,” Karnes wrote in his morning weather blog.
Temperatures will drop tonight into the upper teens and 20s Wednesday morning and it will stay cold with a high of only 37 on Wednesday with mostly sunny skies.
Thursday will start out at around 18 degrees then warming through the day up to a high of 45. Friday and Saturday should be warmer with highs in the 50s on Friday and up into the 60s over the weekend.
South of Chattanooga, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency reported just before 8 a.m. that there were no reports of significant problems, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s SmartWay Traffic system shows no traffic problems on major roads in the Chattanooga area.