As snow and freezing rain taper off, roads remain treacherous

HUNTSVILLE – As crews continue to clear snow-covered roads from Winter Storm Cora, regional leaders urge residents to avoid travel unless necessary due to worsening conditions.

The National Weather Service forecasting office in Huntsville said sleet and freezing rain is expected to fall throughout the afternoon, which will make clearing roads more difficult. Precipitation is expected to end about 10 p.m. in northeast Alabama.

“That may be the most dangerous time of this storm,” Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said. “That’s not a time you want to be on the road.”

A winter storm warning remains in effect until 6 a.m. Saturday. The weather service said two to seven inches of snowfall and light ice accumulations (less than 0.10 inch) has been reported through the Tennessee Valley this morning through the afternoon hours.

A winter mix is forecast to continue through the late evening, resulting in additional snowfall amounts up to one to two inches and ice amounts up to 0.10 to 0.25 inch, primarily in northeast Alabama and portions of southern middle Tennessee.

“Some improvement on area roadways is possible Saturday if temperatures can  get above freezing and the sun can break through for multiple hours,” the weather service said. “However, roadways will not improve Saturday if temperatures only rise above freezing  briefly, if at all, under overcast skies.

“In this case, improvement would likely not come until the afternoon on Sunday.”

Officials urged looking out for neighbors and those who may be in need.

“It’s very important the public understands the conditions out there and they try to help each other,” Madison County Commission Chairman Mac McCutcheon said. “We’re anticipating that ice could be a drastic change in conditions so we just encourage people to help each other.”

The Huntsville area is seeing the benefit of long-range planning and preparation for winter events, Madison Mayor Paul Finley said.

“It’s great having people focused on this all the time and then when something like this happens, they put the plan into action,” he said. “We have phenomenal teams from both the City and the County.”