Snow covers Chattanooga, causing slick road conditions

Snow came to Chattanooga on Friday morning.

By around 2 p.m., the city had recorded 3 inches of snow, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Derek Eisentrout.

Surrounding areas got between 1 and 4 inches of snowfall before the precipitation turned to freezing rain later in the day, Eisentrout said.

“The biggest winner so far was southwest of Signal Mountain near the Marion County line,” he said by phone. “They got 4.3 inches.”

(READ MORE: Hamilton County Schools, other Chattanooga-area closures due to inclement weather)

The last time Chattanooga got more than 3 inches was Feb. 25, 2015, when 6 inches fell, according to the weather service.

Jack and Lily Heerema walked about a mile to the pedestrian bridge from their home off Riverfront Parkway, enjoying their first snow since getting married last year. They were headed to Renaissance Park to see if people were sledding, they said in an interview.

“We love snow,” Jack Heerema said. “We never get to really see snow. I grew up in Florida. She grew up in Atlanta.”

Lily Heerema said she was in Chattanooga for the heavy snow a year ago.

“But this is way better,” she said.

Overnight, the Chatt Foundation’s warming shelter housed more than 100 people, according to CEO Baron King.

“We have some people who haven’t left our facility for about a week,” King said.

Chattanooga’s bus service stopped running by 1 p.m. Friday as road conditions became slick and dangerous, according to police who urged drivers to stay home if possible.

Police on Friday said they were only responding to high-priority calls that were “the most serious and involve a threat to life.”

(READ MORE: Chattanooga area roads slick due to inclement weather)

Transit officials said service should resume Saturday with fixed-route, CartaGo and shuttle services restarting at 9 a.m. and Care-A-Van paratransit service resuming at noon.

Several crashes were reported throughout the area Friday, including one in Marion County that closed westbound lanes near the Georgia line just before 9 a.m., according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

A semi truck that jackknifed on Interstate 75 near Ooltewah-Georgetown Road also caused delays.

The Chattanooga airport canceled 24 out of 38 arriving and departing flights — most, but not all, of the flights scheduled for Friday afternoon, according to the airport’s website.

Precipitation in the Chattanooga area was expected to dwindle between 9 and 10 p.m. Friday, but the temperature will be below freezing Saturday morning and continue causing problems for drivers, Eisentrout said.

“Don’t go out unless you have to,” he said. “Saturday’s a good day to avoid travel, and conditions should be improved Sunday.”

The temperature on Saturday will start out around 30 degrees, he said.

“Then clouds will gradually diminish, and it will get up to a balmy 37 degrees,” he said. “Sunday, there’ll be a good bit of sunshine, it should get up to 40 degrees with a south wind.”

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Hamilton County Emergency Management spokesperson Amy Maxwell said in a phone interview that snow plows have been placed at strategic locations around the county.

“Secondary roads in this area are absolutely covered,” she said from Soddy-Daisy early Friday afternoon.

She said that no reported traffic crashes had caused major injuries by the time of the call, at about 1:20 p.m. Friday.

Most of the vehicles she’d seen on the roads were all-terrain vehicles or had four-wheel drive. She’d noticed a few sedans stuck in ditches or abandoned on road shoulders.

“Those can actually be a hazard for us too, because if somebody is traveling on the road and slides, they take the chance of hitting the vehicle that is parked on the side of the road,” she said.

“We’re just asking that if you do not have four-wheel drive and you do not have to venture out, please stay home,” she said. “This would alleviate first responders having to come to you if it could have been avoided.”

HAVING SOME FUN

Some Chattanoogans braved the snow for a walk on the Walnut Street Bridge or to sled down Cardboard Hill in Renaissance Park — though most opted for inner tubes or other vessels instead of cardboard. One person slid down on an empty TV box.

A group of four friends stacked two huge balls of snow in Coolidge Park to make the base for their snowman taller than 6 feet. The lawn around them, full of fresh snow, was littered with other snowpeople.

“I’ve seen people build igloos down here, like when I was a kid growing up,” Liam Pinson said in an interivew. “So we came down here to see if anybody else was out.”

(READ MORE: Heavy snow, wintry mix to hit Chattanooga region during morning rush)

At City Cafe, Max Reimer was warming up with 11 groomsmen in town for his wedding this weekend.

They’d loaded tires into the back of a truck and planned to pull each other down the street after their meal, the groomsmen said.

“We’re going to cause some havoc down there,” Reimer said in an interview. “We’re going to try to get injured.”

The World of Wheels classic car show was still on at the Chattanooga Convention Center Friday, though attendence was low during the snow, Perry Merler, with the Scenic City Street Machines car club, said in an interview.

A group from the club took refuge at City Cafe on Friday afternoon, anticipating the show would be more popular on Saturday.

“We checked it, and the other restaurants around here are still closed,” Merler said.

WARMING SHELTER

The Chatt Foundation opens its shelters on evenings when the overnight temperatures are expected reach 35 degrees or less for at least four hours. It also opens its doors when it’s below 40 degrees with a greater than 50% chance of precipitation.

The warming shelter planned to be open from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. Friday evening to Saturday morning, according to a text alert.

So far, the Chatt Foundation’s cold weather shelter has been open 22 nights this winter, and it’s averaged 74 people per evening. Typically, the shelter is open 60 to 70 nights each winter.

“The attendance in our overnight shelter is directly correlated with the severity of the weather, so precipitation, low temperatures definitely drive more people into the shelter,” CEO Baron King said in a phone call.

The organization, at 727 E. 11th St, provides restrooms, foot care, hygiene items, clothing, food and other services to homeless people in the Chattanooga area. Some people eat all three meals at the Chatt Foundation and spend the whole day there before staying overnight, King said.

King said the organization is seeing a high demand for coats, hats, gloves and blankets. Donations from the community go directly to the people the Chatt Foundation serves.

Over the past couple of days, King has been in talks with CARTA to provide transportation for people who want to use the shelter but are too far away.

“We are exploring making it possible for people on Rossville Boulevard to use public transportation to get to our facility,” King said. “I’m hoping to have some type of agreement in place next week.”

Staff writers Ellen Gerst, Mike Pare and Mariah Franklin contributed to this report.

Contact Kailee Shores at kshores@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.