Snow, single-digit temps hit


Thursday, January 2010
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Snow, single-digit temps hit

By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer

Photos by Barry Burleson

Deep freeze

The Hugh Craft House at the intersection of Gholson Avenue and Memphis Street provides a wintry scene Thursday morning.

The South was in a deep freeze last week with temperatures falling into the single digits Thursday and Friday. Close to a half-inch or less of snow accumulated throughout the Marshall County area.

Hugh Hollowell, emergency management director, said the Byhalia area seemed to get the least snow, with Potts Camp taking on a little more.

School children got two days off due to the freeze, which made driving conditions more hazardous. Hollowell said there were some minor accidents Thursday and Friday.

“I think a lot of people stayed off the roads,” he said. “It was truly, with a few exceptions, very quiet. We are very fortunate we didn’t get more snow.”

Mail must go through
Carolyn Johnson delivers mail Thursday morning on a snow-covered Bonds Drive in Holly Springs.

There were no house fire reports that can accompany a hard freeze. Hollowell thinks the prolonged cold weather this late in the season made the difference as people had been using their sources of heat and found any problems and made corrections.

“We just want everybody to use common sense with gas, wood and electric. All have their potential danger, if handled improperly,” he said.

Photo by Barry Burleson

Snowy path
Robert Batts clears snow from the sidewalk in front of city hall.

Sometimes people get desperate when it gets cold and use improper and unsafe sources of heat such as gas grills, he said.

The biggest complaints Hollowell said he heard from the public is they let their water lines freeze.

County administrator Larry Hall had his road and bridge crews out early Thursday morning spreading mix on the steep curves, high slopes and shady places where ice tends to linger on county roads. Road conditions began to deteriorate around 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. Thursday. Crews used county pickups equipped with spreaders to take care of problem areas, he said.

Later in the day Thursday, gray, overcast skies were replaced by bright sunny vistas, but the sun did little to warm up the cold arctic-like air that swept in from the Northwest. Friday at 8:13 a.m., the temperature was reported at 9 degrees at the marquee at Bank of Holly Springs on Highway 7 South in Holly Springs.

In Jackson, the Legislature closed Thursday around noon due to weather and planned to resume the 2010 session Monday, Jan. 11.

Mitch Tomlinson, with Holly Springs water and sewer department, reported Tuesday few problems with water mains had resulted from the prolonged freeze. He said his workers were busy Monday and Tuesday answering calls from residents who needed their water turned off because of leaking house pipes.

Daytime temperatures returned to above freezing midday Monday and were expected to approach 50 degrees by Thursday.

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