The snow is still coming on Tuesday but the latests forecasts have decreased expected accumulations in most areas to 2 to 4 inches.
WRCB Channel 3 meteorologist David Karnes said in his Monday weather blog that today's more pleasant temperatures will be short-lived as a cold front brings clouds and winter weather early Tuesday.
Rain beginning tonight with temperatures in the 40s will change over to frozen precipitation after 3 a.m. Tuesday.
"Then temps will drop into the mid to upper 30s and we will start to see the rain changing over into snow," Karnes said in his blog. "Between 3am and 10am we will see snow showers moving through Chattanooga."
After 10 a.m., snow will taper off in the city but snow showers will continue east of Interstate 75 heading into the mountains of East Tennessee and Northeast Georgia, he said.
By noon Tuesday, the snow will be gone but temperatures should remain in the 20s and ice could become a problem on untreated roads, Karnes said.
"We have a number of winter weather advisories and watches in effect," Karnes said. "Widespread, I would expect us to see 2-4 [inches] across the plateau, in the Tennessee Valley, and [N]orth Georgia with 1-3 [inches] in the Blue Ridge [Mountains]. Some of the higher amounts - 3-4 [inches] will be north of Chattanooga around Cleveland, Athens, and Dayton."
Hamilton County Schools has not yet announced whether or not school will be closed Tuesday, but spokesman Tim Hensley said the district is closely monitoring forecast.
He said a variety of factors go into the decision to close schools including forecasts from the National Weather Service, road conditions and recommendations from Hamilton County's Emergency Services and feedback from district officials.
"It all comes down to if we can have buses out on the road and if we can get students and people to and from school safely," Hensley said.
District officials will also closely monitor weather and roads on Tuesday. Some district personnel might drive out to "known trouble spots" as the district decides if schools will remain closed Wednesday.
Then bitter cold will move in for the rest of the week. Karnes said lows on Wednesday and Thursday will plunge into the teens with a highs on Wednesday of 36 and Thursday of 42.