By Karen Middleton
The Christmas-card beauty of a brief winter snowfall had some residents out rolling snowmen and others digging their way out of ditches.
A few flakes began lazily drifting down at about 7 a.m. Monday and soon turned into a heavy snowfall, with huge flakes that accumulated to about 3.5 inches in Elkmont and 1.5 inches just east of Athens, according to National Weather Service forecaster Jennifer Lee in the Huntsville office.
“There was a very narrow strip across North Alabama, but by the time it got down toward Decatur, there was really nothing,” said Lee.
Lee said she couldn’t rule out a “few flurries or sleet” for Monday night, and tonight might bring a few more flurries, but nothing compared to Monday morning’s accumulation.
“We see another system toward the end of the week with a chance of snow late Thursday into early Friday,” she said.
Monday’s snowfall ended by late morning, and once temperatures climbed above freezing traffic problems lessened.
State troopers in Decatur reported 14 wrecks in Limestone County between 7:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Monday, all of them due to weather but none of them involving injuries.
Athens Police Department reported nine accidents — none involving injuries — between 7:45 and 10:20 a.m. Monday, according to Capt. Floyd Johnson.
“There were also 12 calls — most on U.S. 31 and U.S. 72 — in which cars had either ran off the roads or were stuck and needed assistance,” Johnson said.
District 4 County Commissioner Bill Daws said the hilly terrain of his northwest Limestone County district made for some particularly hazardous driving conditions.
“One especially bad place was Baker Hill Road,” Daws said. “We had someone to run off there and on Cairo Hollow Road. We put sand on the bridges and salt on icy patches on Baker Hill and other hills.”
Gary Daly in District 1 in the northeast part of the county said he had to close Shipley Hollow Road temporarily.
“Sandlin Road was also slick going up the school,” Daly said. “I saw a few folks off in the ditch.”
Gerald Barksdale, District 2 commissioner, said remarkably few problems were reported, while District 3 Commissioner Bill Latimer reported “a mess.”
“We had to go out and put urea—fertilizer—on bridges,” Latimer said. “We had a call from the corner of Blue Springs Drive and Blue Springs Road. There’s a really steep hill there and traffic couldn’t get up it. We took out the grader and salt spreader to make it passable.”
Rita White of the Emergency Management Agency said there were scattered reports of road closings throughout the county.
“We were concerned for awhile about schools when we heard several roads were closed, and about the hills in West Limestone,” White said.
Neither Limestone County nor Athens City Schools closed because of the roads. Children were in class before the heavy accumulations and the weather had warmed enough to melt roadways before school let out.
Winter driving tips
A transplant from Chicago, who asked to remain nameless out of fear for his life, offered these safety tips for Southern drivers:
• Slow down
• Clean off all of your windows before you drive
• Slow down
• Turn on your headlights
• Slow down
• Hang up your cell phone — you can call your friends and tell them how bad the roads are after you crash.
