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| Nashville Tennessean
A severe winter storm covering much of the United States is expected to bring freezing fog, freezing drizzle, icy roads and up to six inches of snow to parts of middle Tennessee. Sunday evening and Monday.
The National Weather Service has warned of slippery conditions on bridges and small roads, low visibility and slippery asphalt creating problems even on larger and busy roads. Meteorologist John Cohen said the upcoming storm will cover virtually all of average Tennessee, with more snow falling in the western half of the region and iceier conditions in the eastern half.
Nashville is predicted to receive three to four inches of snow and sleet, but six inches or more could fall in some areas, Cohen said. The upcoming storm is set to be the snowiest in Middle Tennessee since January 2016, when eight inches fell, he said.
“The main assault will begin on Monday,” Cohen said. “You will see it filling up around noon or late in the morning, and it will quickly spread throughout the area by the afternoon.”
Nashville felt the first signs of the storm over the weekend. Freezing drizzle fell over much of the city on Saturday and Sunday morning, what Cohen described as a “warning to all of us” of the weather ahead.
“We didn’t have a lot of precipitation, just freezing drizzle, but the roads are just frozen over,” Cohen said.
Metro Nashville police officers all work at least two hours longer than their scheduled shifts to answer weather-related calls. As of Sunday, at least 230 crashes with property damage and 40 crashes with injuries were reported in Nashville.
Power outages and tree damage are likely due to ice, the NWS reported.
Icy roads contribute to 21 car stacking and more than 100 wrecks around Nashville
The icy roads contributed to a stack of 21 vehicles on Interstate 24 on Saturday morning, which resulted in only minor injuries but caused a traffic jam for hours.
On Sunday, a Trousdale County sheriff’s deputy sustained minor injuries when he skidded on black ice and rolled his patrol vehicle. More than 100 vehicle crashes had occurred in metropolitan Nashville by 3 p.m. – even before the storm really happened – said Lt. Charlie Caplinger of the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
“This is not your regular snowstorm,” Caplinger said. “A lot of ice is expected to fall before the snow gets here. No matter what type of vehicle you drive … on the ice you can’t stop.
Road conditions are only expected to worsen when the drizzle turns to freezing rain, sleet and snow. Precipitation is virtually guaranteed on Sunday evening, so a fifth of an inch of ice is expected to accumulate on the exterior surfaces.
In preparation, the Tennessee Department of Transportation has applied salt to some roads and intends to operate salt trucks and snow plows up to 24 hours a day during the storm, the commissioner of the storm said. Clay Bright agency. The agency will also temporarily expand its roadside assistance program to cover the entire I-40 between Nashville and Memphis.
Despite these precautions, the best defense against the storm is to stay home, he said.
“If you can stay home, please stay home,” Bright said. “We urge everyone to stay off the roads during this looming storm. And if you must be on the road, please slow down and give our equipment operators plenty of room.
Snowfall beginning Monday afternoon
After a frosty Sunday evening, the storm may briefly relax on Monday morning, only to intensify again later in the day.
Freezing rain is expected to turn to snow on Monday. Most of the snowfall in the middle of the state will occur Monday afternoon and evening, the NWS reported. Light snowfall is likely to continue on Tuesday.
Temperatures are expected to drop as low as 13 degrees and not climb higher than 30 throughout a winter storm warning that expires early Tuesday morning.
Nashville weather radar
Brett Kelman is the health reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 615-259-8287 or at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @brettkelman.
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