Weather causes little damage
A layer of ice coated trees and power lines throughout Franklin County late Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning but little damage or problems were reported.
After a weekend that felt more like spring than the middle of January, temperatures did a quick turnaround and residents were experiencing icy conditions, school closings and delays on Monday and Tuesday due to winter weather advisories.
Temperatures hovered in the mid-70s on Sunday before heavy rains and storms moved into the area ahead of a cold front that had temperatures plummeting to the lower 40s in a matter of hours.
The cold temps held through the night along with the steady rain that began to create a light coating of ice on most of the trees and vegetation in the area.
City and county schools dismissed early on Monday and opened late on Tuesday due to unforeseen road conditions due to the icy mix.
Even though road conditions were thought to be hazardous in places, Franklin County Emergency Management Agency Director Roy Gober said there weren’t any major problems associated with Monday and Tuesday’s icy conditions.
“We experienced quite a bit of icing on the trees but the ice stayed off the roadways for the most part,” Gober said.
“We had a few back roads out in the county that got a little slippery late last night, but other than that, the roads have been passable.”
Gober said trees that fell as a result of the extra weight from the ice were the biggest problems the area had.
“We had about 20 trees that fell in different parts of the county, but we were able to get that taken care of quickly and get them cleaned up,” he said.
“We also had about 15 power outages from power lines that were downed, and one of the lines actually caused a small fire in Phil Campbell, but they were able to get that taken care of quickly and the power was restored.”
Gober said most of the power outages occurred in the southern part of the county.
There also weren’t any weather-related traffic accidents that were reported, Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver and Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett said.
According to the National Weather Service, more freezing rain is a possibility for Thursday but weekend temperatures should be back in the low 50s with no chance for precipitation.
