Wintry mix grinding area to halt

Published 4:51 pm Monday, January 28, 2019

Forecasts of snow and freezing temperatures for early Tuesday morning sent Cullman County into a flurry of activity Monday, from loading up on groceries to treating roads with brine in the hope of reducing risks for motorists.

Area schools, including Wallace State Community College, cancelled Tuesday’s classes as the National Weather Service predicted 2 to 4 inches of snow, mixed with rain and freezing wind chill factors in the teens.

The City of Cullman administrative offices and Cullman Power Board offices are also closed.

Cullman Power Board Director Mike Manning said linemen will be on duty to answer calls of outages. Anyone in the city with an outage should call 256-734-2343.

Cullman Electric Cooperative spokesman Brian Lacy said administrative offices will be open. Anyone experiencing a power outage should call the automated system at 256-737-3201 and punch in their phone number for service.

Depending on how much melts away Tuesday, Wednesday morning could be the most treacherous time for drivers, said Cullman County Emergency Management Agency Director Phyllis Little on Monday afternoon.

“The temperatures will not be above freezing until 1 or 2 o’clock Wednesday, so if it doesn’t dry out enough, any moisture leftover will freeze and we will have black ice in places across the county,” Little said.

Tuesday’s high temperature was expected to reach 31, but the overnight low will be 19. Wednesday is predicted to be mostly sunny with high reaching 35 and dropping to 16 at night.

The extended Friday forecast also carries a 30 percent chance of rain and snow, but without freezing temperatures.

State, county and City of Cullman road crews began prepping roads early in anticipation of the wintry mix. The Alabama Department of Transportation began working on bridges and main highways over the weekend. But with all road treatments, the effort only reduces, not eliminates, the risks associated with icy surfaces.

The majority of road problems were anticipated on county roads or less-traveled areas, where a series of bridges and low areas were expected to cause problems as temperatures dipped.

Power company crews are also on standby to address outages. Little said some tree limbs could break because of ice and rain, effecting both power lines and homes. 

If ice remains on power lines for an extended period of time, those could break as well.

Gov. Kay Ivey also declared a state of emergency and called for the activation of the Alabama Emergency Operations Center in Clanton and the Alabama National Guard to assist with emergency transportation needs. Ivey is also directed the appropriate state agencies to exercise their statutory authority to assist communities and entities affected by the winter storm.  

Additional announcements of closings and re-openings related to schools and government services are expected throughout the day. Visit cullmantimes.com for frequent updates.