NWS: 4-6 inches of snow to fall today
The National Weather Service has placed Morgan County and the rest of the Tennessee Valley under a winter storm warning today as four to six inches of snow is expected to fall today.
Most of the snow is expected to fall this afternoon. The weather service is expecting most of the snow to fall between noon and 6 p.m. today, with three to five inches accumulating during the afternoon hours. Another inch or two could fall between 6 p.m. and midnight.
In advance of the storm, Public Works Director Daxton Maze said he ordered two additional loads of sand. He will have at least two dump trucks with spreaders on standby to work the major roadways.
The high was predicted to be 33 degrees with an overnight low in the mid to upper 20s. Temperatures are expected to rebound into the 40s by Thursday afternoon but dropping back into the mid-30s Friday afternoon.
State troopers are offering the following tips to help ensure safe winter travel:
• Avoid travel, if possible, when icy or other extremely hazardous driving conditions develop in your area.
• Keep your vehicle in good operating condition. Check antifreeze levels and use windshield washer solution suitable for freezing weather conditions. Keep gas tanks at least half full.
• Remember that weather and roadway conditions can quickly change. Adapt speeds to existing roadway conditions, and be alert to changing weather and the possibility of icy, slippery roads.
• During inclement weather, turn on headlights and windshield wipers and maintain a safe distance between your vehicle and other vehicles.
• Pay particular attention to bridges and overpasses, which have a tendency to develop extremely hazardous “black ice.”
• Keep blankets, a first aid kit, a charged cell phone and other emergency supplies in your vehicle.
Motorists are encouraged to contact Trooper posts only to report traffic crashes or other emergencies. Motorists with cell phones may dial *HP (*47) toll‐free to report roadway emergencies to a Trooper post.
In addition, motorists are urged to be alert for emergency vehicles and personnel and to obey the state’s “move over” law.
For information on road closings, motorists may log on to the Alabama Department of Transportation’s website, www.dot.state.al.us.