BY KEN LITTLE STAFF WRITER County officials, first responders and law enforcement officers are coping today with icy roads and reports of numerous fender-bender style accidents. They were updated at 10 a.m. today at the Emergency Operations Center in Greeneville via a “webinar” conference call with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Morristown. Rain this afternoon in Greene County could translate into one-quarter to one half-inch of ice, “which is very significant in regard to trees and power lines coming down,” said David Hotz, of the weather service. Temperatures should rise above 32 degrees (freezing) for a few hours between 2 and 3 p.m., and provide a window of several hours of above-freezing temperatures, forecasters said. “Travel is obviously very hazardous,” Hotz said. “Even if you do get above freezing today, you will go back to freezing tonight. There will be black ice Saturday morning.” The latest NWS forecast for Greeneville calls for freezing rain before 2 p.m., then rain or freezing rain, with a high near 34 degrees. Rain or freezing rain is expected before 8 p.m., then a chance of freezing rain between 8 p.m. and 1a.m. Friday. The low will be around 27 degrees, the NWS said. The low will be around 27 degrees, the NWS said. Saturday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 40. Have any good photos of the icy conditions? Send them, along with your name and phone number, to (photos@greenevillesun.com)

 

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