Surprising snow • Up to seven inches blankets parts of county


Thursday, February 11, 2010
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Surprising snow
• Up to seven inches blankets parts of county

By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer

Photos by Barry Burleson

More wintry weather

(Above) A few cars move along a snow-covered Van Dorn Avenue in downtown Holly Springs about 7:30 Monday morning. (Below) Carole Jean Taylor coordinated her snowman on Chulahoma Avenue with Valentine’s Day, which arrives this Sunday.

Marshall County officials were caught by surprise Monday, waking up to find one to seven inches of snow across the county, according to emergency management coordinator Hugh Hollowell.

“We didn’t think it was coming this early in the day while temperatures were still below freezing,” he said.

Rain turned to sleet and then to snow to blanket the area, closing schools and some businesses. Most county office employees were waived off for the day, also, except staffing at the county administrator’s office and road and bridge departments, and other essential services such as fire and law enforcement. The afternoon brought steady rain showers that continued overnight Monday.

Schools remained closed Tuesday, even though most major streets and highways were clear.

Hollowell said he knew of no power outages, automobile pile-ups or problem with fallen limbs as of late Monday afternoon. He measured four inches of snow at Watson early Monday, he said.

There were a few fender-benders and incidents where drivers slipped off the road after losing traction, he said.

County administrator Larry Hall began checking the roads early Monday to let school administrators know what conditions looked like.

“There was not a flake of snow in Cornersville,” he said. “I didn’t even know it snowed until I got to Potts Camp.”

Hall said there were lots of single vehicle accidents early on Monday as drivers got out and tried to get to work. Slippery conditions, however, caused most would-be motorists to realize they could not travel, he said. Many went back home until roads cleared.

County road and bridge workers focused on clearing the accumulation on bridges Tuesday.

Hall said his staff used blades to clear the main traffic arteries and bridges Monday.

Snow friends
Amanda and Rosamond Barnett of Holly Springs are pictured with their snow friends.

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