Freezing rain causes dangerous conditions
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 15, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Water freezes on the fountain downtown this morning as temperatures barely reach 30 degrees. Freezing conditions led to numerous wrecks this morning and caused Wayne County Public Schools to close for the day.
Freezing rain that started falling around 5 this morning left roads, especially bridges and overpasses, treacherous as state Department of Transportation crews continued to spread salt and brine to combat the wintery mix.
By 8 a.m., the Wayne County 911 call center had dispatched 26 motor vehicle crashes across the county. The total does not include any in the city or that went to the Highway Patrol.
Mel Powers, emergency medical and security director for the Wayne County Office of Emergency Services, said the calls were mostly for vehicles in ditches.
Powers said he was not aware of any serious crashes.
Wayne County Public Schools had been on a two-hour delay, but the decision was made not to open as road conditions worsened.
County offices did not open until 10 a.m.
Wayne County remained under a winter weather advisory through 1 p.m. today. Areas to the north and west were harder hit by the storm that included sleet, freezing rain and snow.
The freezing rain was expected to taper of by 11 a.m., switching over to rain as the temperature climbed to around 39 degrees.
A total accumulation of less than a tenth of an inch of ice was expected.
Rain and thunderstorms are expected before 1 p.m. Tuesday with a slight chance of rain after 2. p.m. Some of the storms could produce heavy rains with winds of 15 to 17 mph with gusts as high as 28 mph.
Tuesday's high is expected to be near 62.
Temperatures will continue to moderate during the week reaching the mid-60s on Saturday and Sunday.
State Department of Transportation crews worked Saturday to pre-treat the county's four-lane and primary roads with brine, said Luther Thompson, DOT maintenance supervisor for Wayne County.
Those efforts appear to have paid off, he said, even though bridges and overpasses are always a problem area.
A crew was on call overnight and responded as soon as the precipitation started falling around 5 this morning, Thompson said.
"We are treating right now with salt and brine," he said.
The county had received word from the National Weather Service that the system was forecast to move through the county between 4 and 5 this morning.
But it had been after five before the conditions deteriorated and roads started getting icy around 6, Thompson said.