| Nashville Tennessean
A strong winter storm covering much of the United States is expected to bring cold fog, icy drizzle, icy roads and as much as inches of snow throughout parts of Central Tennessee. Sunday night and Monday.
The National Weather Service has warned of slippery conditions on bridges and smaller roads, with low visibility and slippery asphalt causing problems, even on larger, well-traveled roads. Meteorologist John Cohen said the coming storm will cover virtually all of Central Tennessee, with more snow in the western half of the region and icy conditions in the eastern half.
LIVE UPDATES: Winter storm affects road conditions in central Tennessee
Nashville is predicted to receive three to four inches of snow and sleet, but in some areas, six inches or more could fall, Cohen said. The upcoming storm has been going to be the snow in central Tennessee since January 2016, when eight inches fell, he said.
“The main assault will begin on Monday,” Cohen said. “You will see that it fills up in the afternoon or late morning, and it will spread rapidly throughout the area over the course of the afternoon.”
Nashville felt the first signs of the storm over the weekend. Saturday and Sunday morning, torrential rain fell over much of the city, describing Cohen as a ‘warning to us all’ of the weather ahead.
“We didn’t get much rainfall, just an icy drizzle, but the roads were just frozen,” Cohen said.
Metro Nashville police officers all work at least two hours longer than their scheduled shifts to help with weather-related calls. On Sunday, at least 230 collisions to property damage and 40 injuries were reported in Nashville.
Power outages and tree damage are likely due to ice, the NWS reported.
Icy roads contribute to more than 21 cars, more than 100 wrecks around Nashville
Icy roads on Saturday morning contributed to a congestion of 21 vehicles on Interstate 24, which resulted in only minor injuries but blocked traffic for hours.
A delegate from a sheriff in Trousdale County sustained minor injuries Sunday when he slipped on black ice and rolled his patrol vehicle. More than a hundred vehicle accidents occurred in the Nashville metropolitan area from 3 p.m. – before the storm actually broke – Tennessee Highway Patrol Lt. Charlie Caplinger said.
“This is not your usual average snowstorm,” Caplinger said. “It’s predicted that a lot of ice will fall before the snow gets here. No matter what kind of vehicle you drive … on the ice, you can not stop.”
The road conditions are expected to only get worse as the drizzle becomes icy rain, snow and sleet. Precipitation is virtually guaranteed by Sunday evening, and as much as a fifth of an inch of ice is expected to accumulate on outdoor surfaces.
In preparation, the Tennessee Department of Transportation has applied salt to some roads and plans to drive salt trucks and snowplows up to 24 hours a day during the storm, agency commissioner Clay Bright said. 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 strongly urge everyone to stay off the roads through this storm that is passing. And if you have to be on the road, slow down and give our equipment operators a wide location.”
Snow falls Monday afternoon
After an icy Sunday night, the storm could briefly stop on Monday morning, only to intensify again later.
Freezing rain is expected to turn into snow on Monday. The NWS reports that most snow accumulation in the central state takes place on Monday afternoon and evening. Light snowfall is likely to continue Tuesday.
The temperature is expected to drop as low as 13 degrees and not climb above 30 during a winter storm warning that expires early Tuesday morning.
Weather Radar in Nashville
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.