Tennessee Prepares For Potential Ice Storm And Freezing Rain

A large portion of Tennessee is under a winter weather advisory and winter storm watch until Thursday night, including an ice storm warning for West Tennessee and freezing rain expected in Middle Tennessee. The advisory goes into place 6 p.m. Wednesday (February 10) and will remain in effect until 6 p.m. Thursday.

Scattered showers on Wednesday combined with dropping temperatures into the night are expected to bring up to half an inch of ice throughout the western half of Tennessee and into Nashville. Counties south of Interstate 40 are expected to receive more rain than ice, WKRN reports.

Crews with the Tennessee Department of Transportation began preparing roads for the potential icy conditions, but officials advise anyone traveling to drive slowly and watch for dangerous ice patches that could accumulate overnight.

The winter weather making its way into Tennessee this week comes on the anniversary of one of the state's biggest ice storms 27 years ago. On February 9, 1994, a sudden drop in temperature and increase in precipitation led to freezing rain coating trees, power lines, and roads, according to WKRN. The storms knocked out electricity for nearly 2 million people across the mid-south, including 100,000 in Middle Tennessee with some going without power for weeks.

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