The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for all counties in Tennessee as the state prepares for a round of heavy snowfall.
According to Andrew Moulton, a forecaster with the NWS in Morristown, East Tennesseans can expect quite a bit of snow throughout the region tomorrow.
“The Tennessee Valley is going to get a good amount of snow,” Moulton said. “But the big question is, ‘how much snow are we going to get?’ And that’s still kind of up in the air.”
Moulton and other forecasters with the NWS have predicted anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of snow for the region. According to the most recent forecasts, higher elevations near the Smoky Mountains along with portions of Knox and Anderson counties could receive even more. While Moulton says they can’t pinpoint an exact amount until the snow actually falls, they know that travel disruptions will likely be severe Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
“Driving conditions are going to be pretty bad, especially late Friday night into the overnight hours,” Moulton said. “But the good news is … we are going to start to see a good amount of the sun hopefully start to come out Sunday. Temperatures won’t get much above freezing, but the sun will help, hopefully, melt that off.”
That’s a key difference from a winter storm which moved through Tennessee around this time last year, blanketing the state in heavy snow and a hard freeze, leading to nine consecutive days of considerable snow depth which crippled infrastructure in the region.
“I mean, this is the biggest event since last year, but it does not look like it’s going to be crippling like last time, where the snow stayed for days and days and days,” Moulton said. “I think we’re going to have a lot faster melting than we did in the January 2024 event.”
The NWS anticipates sunshine will melt a good amount of snow and ice by Sunday evening, leaving roads clear for the start of the workweek on Monday.
Meanwhile, state officials are encouraging residents to stay indoors this weekend, if at all possible, and not to panic over the weather.
“If you don’t have to be out and about in the snowfall, we encourage you not to be,” said Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Director Patrick Sheehan. “There’s no reason to panic. We have the luxury of time. The forecast is pretty consistent at this point, so prepare now … We encourage anyone in Tennessee that needs groceries to get their French toast ingredients [today].”
The Tennessee Department of Transportation also highlighted their preparedness for the storm, announcing Wednesday that they have started treating major roadways with brine, and will be working Friday and throughout the weekend to clear and salt major affected roadways.
“Our crews have been pre-treating East Tennessee’s interstates and state routes,” said TDOT spokesperson Mark Nagi. “They started on Wednesday, and we’ll do so throughout the day today in anticipation of this winter weather.”
Nagi said that the brine will help melt snow on the roadways on Friday, but there is a lingering concern of black ice forming Saturday morning.
“The worry that we have is in terms of refreezing, because the snow is likely going to stop in the early morning hours on Saturday, but as those temperatures continue to stay at freezing or below freezing, especially into the teens, then the possibility of refreezing and black ice certainly goes up … The safest place you can be is at home.”
Ahead of the snowfall, several warming centers have opened up their doors all across East Tennessee to welcome those who have nowhere else to go, as temperatures drop well below freezing. In Knoxville, KAT buses will give free rides to warming centers to those who request them.
The following warming centers will be open this weekend:
Knox County:
- Fountain City United Methodist Church, 212 Hotel Rd, Knoxville, 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
- Magnolia Avenue United Methodist Church, 2700 E. Magnolia Avenue, Knoxville
- Cokesbury United Methodist Church, 9919 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, 7 p.m. to 8 a.m.
- Vestal United Methodist Church, 115 Ogle Avenue, Knoxville, 7 p.m. to 8 a.m.
- The Salvation Army, 409 N. Broadway, Knoxville, 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Blount County:
- First Baptist Church of Maryville, 202 W. Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Anderson County:
- Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, 6 p.m. to 10 a.m.
Hamblen County:
- Ministerial Association Temporary Shelter, 733 W. Main Street, Morristown, 8:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Cocke County:
- First United Methodist Church of Newport, 212 Washington Avenue, Newport, 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Greene County:
- Ashbury United Methodist Church, 201 S. Main Street, Greeneville, 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Washington County:
- The Salvation Army, 200 Ashe Street, Johnson City, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Carter County:
- Doe River Baptist Church, 113 Avon Street, Elizabethton, 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.
- Deliverance Church of God, 406 1st Avenue, Hampton, 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Johnson County:
- First United Methodist Church, 128 N. Church Street, Mountain City, dusk to dawn
- First United Methodist Church, 11207 Highway 421 S., Trade, dusk to dawn
Sullivan County:
- Haven of Rest, 624 Anderson Street, Bristol
- Salvation Army, 137 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Bristol, 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.
Monroe County:
- Monroe County Justice Center, 4500 New Highway 68, Madisonville, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m
McMinn County:
- McMinn Warming Center, 714 Walter Street, Athens, 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.
- Athens Warming Center, 206 W. Main Street, Athens, 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Roane County:
- Courts of Praise Church, 215 Maple Street, Harriman, 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Rhea County:
- Spring City Warming Center, 440 Piccadilly Avenue, Spring City, 5 p.m. to 8 a.m.
This story was updated with the most recent NWS forecast information at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, January 10, 2025.
