The snow that blanketed Tennessee on Thursday broke at least one record. Between 6 and 8 inches fell in Nashville. Previously, the most snow in the city on Jan. 6 was 4 inches back in 1977.
Clarksville received a similar amount of snow, while some in Lafayette are reporting up to 9 inches. Areas like Waverly, Columbia and Cookeville saw slightly less dramatic snow totals, between 3 and 6 inches. But to the south, Tullahoma and Waynesboro got less than an inch of accumulation.
The winter weather caused crashes across the region. Law enforcement responded to stranded vehicles, collisions and jackknifed semis that temporarily closed parts of I-24 and I-40 yesterday.
By Friday morning, Metro officials had responded to 325 safety hazards. That includes more than 200 traffic accidents.
Driving conditions remain icy and unsafe heading into Friday evening. Meteorologist Scott Unger said it won’t get above freezing until late morning on Saturday.
“Any liquid on the road tonight is going to freeze,” he says. “So, if you got to get out on the roads, just take it slow, very slow, and leave plenty of stopping distance between you and the car in front of you.”
The weather also contributed to the issuing of a silver alert. An 83-year-old man with dementia had not come home after visiting a Walgreens during the storm. He was later found safe but stuck in a median on I-40. Police say he has been reunited with his family.
Rachel Iacovone WPLN News (File)Snow blankets the area around the Nashville International Airport.
Planes are flying again at Nashville’s airport; flooding a concern
Meanwhile, flights departing from Nashville International Airport were mostly back on track this morning. As of 6:30 a.m. about 80% of flights were running as scheduled.
According to FlightAware.com, there are nearly 50 canceled Southwest flights today.
More: Check your flight status at flynashville.com
The snowfall is on top of nearly 3 inches of rain this past week, and another 1 to 2 inches of rain is expected on Sunday. This means there could be some localized flooding in the next few days.
Power outages also remain a concern. Statewide, there were about 10,000 people without power on Friday morning. Nearly 500 people in Clarksville and 77 people in Nashville were without electricity.
That number has since fallen to about 5,600 customers, most of them in Sevier County, as of 2 p.m.
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