Schools closed but weather causes few problems

Bedford County Schools are closed today due to Thursday evening's wintry mix of rain and snow. Many local residents may have had their car doors frozen shut this morning, but the impact on local roads and traffic seems to be less than it might have been.

An official with the Bedford County's Sheriff Department said that aside from one person running off the road early this morning, there had been no problems on the roadways due to the wintery weather.

Bedford County Highway Superintendent Stanley Smotherman said there was more of a problem with flooding from this week's rain than from the winter weather. He said there were a few incidents of black ice, and drivers should be careful on local roads

"They're just slick in places," said Smotherman.

Temperatures were expected to rise above freezing today, melting any residual ice and snow.

But several roads had to be closed for a time overnight due to flooding. Mullins Mill Road and Bugscuffle Road in the eastern part of the county were closed but have since reopened. Zion Hill Road near Unionville was still closed when the Times-Gazette spoke to Smotherman this morning but was expected to open by afternoon.

National Weather Service forecaster Mark Rose in Nashville said there were a couple of observation posts on the Cumberland Plateau that reported three inches of snow Friday morning, but one to two inches was more usual.

The snow fell mostly in an area south and east of Nashville and across the plateau into East Tennessee.

At the Weather Service station east of downtown Nashville, only 0.7 inches of snow fell.

Rose said temperatures Friday would rise to above freezing.