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Roads being salted and many in decent shape after East Tennessee snowstorm

The snowfall across East Tennessee from Thursday night is pretty but it was causing hazards. Authorities urged caution as snow piled up.

UPDATE (11 p.m.):

Officials with the Tennessee Department of Transportation said that many areas in Knox County and in surrounding counties were in decent shape.

However, they also said that several snow bands continued to make their way through East Tennessee and that they were worried about dropping temperatures causing conditions to worry again.

Crews were on their routes across East Tennessee, monitoring conditions and salting roads to keep them from refreezing overnight.

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The Christmas Eve snowfall was pretty, but it was still causing hazards across East Tennessee Christmas Day. 

7:00 a.m. conditions by county:

Knox County

  • Icy Patched County-Wide
  • Crews working on downed powerlines on Fountain Road
  • Wreck at Russell Road and Smith School
  • About 8,500 without power at 7:00 a.m.

Loudon County

  • Icy patches county wide

Sevier County

  • Whole county “crazy” with ice and snow
  • Over 16,000 without power
  • Lots of calls coming in for accidents but none with injuries

Blount County

  • Trees down
  • Icy roads all over
  • Cars in ditches

Campbell County

  • Widespread icy roads
  • A lot of cars on roadsides 

Jefferson County

  • Icy roads
  • Crews treating roads now

Grainger County

  • A lot of cars on the side of the road
  • No road closures to report

McMinn County

  • Athens City roads icy all over

Roane County

  • Snowy streets county wide, road department crews out treating roads

Scott County

  • Ice-covered roads county-wide
  • Oneida seems better from last night but still icy

ORIGINAL STORY:

Authorities are continuing to urge caution as snow continues to pile up.

In many spots, more than 2 inches had already fallen.

Numerous spots in the Knoxville metro area were seeing backups, slick spots and some crashes. That included Chapman Highway.

At 7 p.m., the Knoxville Police Department activated Level 2 of the Severe Weather Plan.

That means officers are temporarily doubled up in severe weather cars, while supervisors are closely screening and monitoring calls.

"Response may be altered/delayed. Interstates are passable but not advised," KPD tweeted Thursday night.

In Morristown, police activated their inclement weather plan as snow continued to fall.  Officers will respond to emergency calls for service and traffic crashes involving injury. Motorists involved in crashes in which no one is injured are asked to exchange information at the scene and come to the police department after the weather clears for a police report.

Across East Tennessee, dispatchers said that several counties experienced severe conditions. A list of affected counties is below:

Anderson County

  • All roads in the county were open by 10 p.m.

Blount County

  • Roads are all open, but several crashes have sent people in the ditch across Blount County according to dispatchers.
  • Dispatchers said that there were no severe accidents as of 10 p.m.
  • The Parkway was closed by 10 p.m.
  • Dispatchers advise the public to not travel in Blount County as roads are very slick.  

Campbell County

  • Dispatchers said that all the roads were experiencing hazardous conditions
  • Several crashes were reported on Howard Baker Highway with slow-moving traffic
  • Dispatchers said that there were accidents reported on I-75, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol was handling them
  • All roads were still open

Claiborne County

  • Dispatchers advised people to stay home if they were able since most roads were covered in snow. 
  • Dispatchers said that around 50 cars were abandoned on the roads.

Cumberland County

  • Dispatchers said that all roads were open in Cumberland County
  • Several accidents were reported, dispatchers said
  • Many roads in the plateau area were closed, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation was working on them.

Cocke County

  • Dispatchers in Cocke County were unavailable for comment on the conditions of the roads as of 10 p.m.

Fentress County

  • Dispatchers said that all roads were open in Fentress County
  • They said roads across the county were slick and warned drivers to use caution

Grainger County

  • No closed roads were reported
  • Dispatchers said that people were advised to stay at home due to hazardous conditions
  • Dispatchers said that Rutledge Pike was seeing hazardous conditions
  • Dispatchers said that Highway 25 E was seeing hazardous conditions
  • Dispatchers warned that snow and slippery conditions were seen across the county

Greene County

  • Greene County dispatchers said that all roads were open and clear

Hamblen County

  • Dispatchers reported a few minor accidents, but all were cleared by Thursday evening.
  • All roads were open

Jefferson County

  • Dispatchers said that roads across the area were seeing hazardous conditions
  • Highway 411, both directions, was seeing severe conditions but remained open

Knox County

  • State Route 168 Eastbound saw a crash at Martin Mill Pike, reported at 4:32 p.m. Eastbound traffic was affected with the roadway partially blocked.
  • A multivehicle crash was reported on I-640 East at Mile Marker 8 at 4:27 p.m. on Thursday. The two right lanes were blocked, as well as the right shoulder.

  • Traffic stopped on I-75 just north of Knoxville at around 6:30 p.m. Thursday

  • Across Knox County, roads were at a standstill as snow piled on.

Loudon County

  • Dispatchers in Loudon County said that all roads were open.

McCreary County

  • No roads are officially closed, according to dispatch. 
  • Main highways are passable, though dispatch confirms secondary and side roads are very hazardous. There have been at least six vehicles off the roadway with no injuries. 

McMinn County

  • Dispatch does not report any calls due to icy roads, and all roads were open as of 10 p.m.

Morgan County

  • Dispatchers in Morgan County said that all roads were open.
  • Between 4:00 to 5:15 p.m., the valley experienced approximately 2.5" of snow accumulation in the grassy areas. People were encouraged to stay home if they did not need to travel.

Monroe County 

  • The mountain roads are not open, and are "really bad" according to dispatch. Specifically, dispatch indicated the area near Cherohala Skyway up through the mountain is difficult to get through.   
  • Other roads are passable in the county, "if you drive really slow," according to a dispatcher who spoke with 10News.

Roane County

  • As of 10 p.m. all roads are open.  Road crews are currently working to clear all roads. Dispatchers do not have further information.  

Scott County

  • Dispatchers said that back roads were slick at around 10 p.m.

Sevier County

  • Dispatchers said that no roads were formally shut down
  • Dispatchers said that several roads were effectively blocked due to disabled vehicles and hazardous conditions, and advised drivers to stay home

Union County

  • Dispatchers report several accidents, and they are running emergency calls throughout the county. Crews are cleaning those accidents up "as best they can," according to dispatchers. 

Whitley County

  • There are no road closures, according to dispatch. There have been several accidents in the county.

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