Roads remain icy in Tri-Cities as snow continues

KINGSPORT — Kingsport residents woke up Saturday morning to several inches of snow covering the ground, cars and everything else outside. The Morristown National Weather Service office's climate report Saturday morning shows the Tri-Cities/Blountville area received 2.6 inches of snow by Friday evening. Kingsport Assistant Public Works Director Tim Elsea said Saturday afternoon that city crews are working on clearing priority 1 and some priority 2 routes as snow continues to fall. "Crews have been working since Friday afternoon and will continue to work around the clock until roads are cleared, Elsea said. Please be patient and avoid being out on the roads if possible." Capt. Andy Seabolt, a spokesperson for the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, said the agency investigated nine vehicle crashes and assisted 12 stranded motorists overnight. A release shared by the Kingsport Police Department Saturday afternoon states the department is still responding to emergencies and crimes in progress. KPD reminded the public to avoid travel when possible and to use 9-1-1 for emergencies and 423-246-9111 for non-emergencies. "Officers are handling vehicle collisions as they come in, but we are not seeing a significant increase in collisions, the release states." Kingsport Fire Department Public Information Officer Barry Brickey said Saturday morning his department responded to one vehicle accident overnight, but no other weather-related calls so far. "Snow and ice covered roadways will make travel difficult today through much of the weekend," the post states. "If you need to travel, slow down and drive with caution." Hawkins County Rescue Squad encouraged drivers to use caution on all roadways in the county. "Most all main and secondary roads are snow covered and have multiple slick spots," a social media post by the squad states. "Travel is not recommended and highly discouraged. If you must travel, please allow yourself plenty of extra travel times. Local and state road crews have been out all night doing all they can to treat the roadways." The Salvation Army of Greater Kingsport is open and is expected to remain open, according to a recent post. Lunch will be served from noon to 1 p.m., with the warming center open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. White flag hours are 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Emergency shelter check-in hours are 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. For any questions, email ktnkptsocialservices@uss.salvationarmy.org. Southwest Virginia Virginia State Police states it has responded to 235 crashes, 24 with injuries, since Friday morning. Of those 235 crashes, 41 took place in Southwest Virginia's Division 4 and two resulted in injury. (Not all crashes were storm-related, VSP states.) The Scott County Virginia Sheriff's Office shared on social media that its deputies are patrolling as of Saturday morning, but conditions are deteriorating. NWS Morristown David Hotz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at the Morristown office, said most of the Kingsport area snowfall ranges from four to six inches as of Saturday morning. He said further east in areas like Bristol or Johnson City it is more like seven to eight inches. He said due the temperatures the snow has been able to stick to most roads including the main ones. "The main thing for people to just remember is if you don't have to travel today, it's probably best that you don't," Hotz said. "But if you do have to get out, just take it slow and give yourself a lot of distance from the vehicle ahead of you. Give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination." In a post shared by NWS Morristown Saturday morning, an additional half-inch to inch of snow is expected to accumulate throughout the day. Here are the latest snow totals from Saturday, as reported by the public and trained spotters to NWS Morristown: 1 NE Limestone, TN (5:30 p.m.) - 11.3 inches 4 WNW Unicoi, TN (5:35 p.m.) - 10.5 inches Greeneville, TN (11:31 am) - 9 inches 1 E Colonial Heights, TN (5:35 p.m.) - 9 inches 3 S Rocky Fork, TN (3:32 p.m.) - 8.5 inches 3 SW Jonesborough (8:13 a.m.) - 8 inches 1 E Erwin, TN (1:09 p.m.) - 8 inches 2 SW Johnson City, TN (6:04 p.m.) - 7.8 inches 3 W Embreeville (8:32 a.m.) - 7.8 inches 1 SW Bristol, TN (7:47 a.m.) - 7.5 inches 3 NE Gray, TN (2:05 pm) EST - 7.5 Inch 3 NE Mosheim (10:40 a.m.) - 7.1 inches 2 SW Surgoinsville (10:36 a.m.) - 7 inches 3 E Avondale, TN (12:08 p.m.) - 7 inches 1 SW Bristol, VA (6:08 p.m.) - 6 inches 3 S Okolona, TN (7:30 a.m.) - 6 inches 1 E Elizabethton, TN (9:40 a.m.) - 5.5 inches Banner Hill, TN (10:38 a.m.) - 5 inches 4 NE Bluff City, TN (6:58 a.m.) - 5 inches Kyles Ford, TN (9:00 a.m.) - 5 inches 1 SW Mount Carmel, TN - (5:02 pm) - 4.5 inches 2 SW Abingdon, VA (7:13 a.m.) - 4.6 inches 1 S Fort Blackmore, VA (9:45 am) - 3 inches (Note: snow amounts are constantly changing, and reporting times vary. Total amounts will be updated as new information is available) Tri-Cities Airport Most arriving and departing flights out of Tri-Cities Airport were marked as "cancelled" as of Saturday morning. This includes flights to/from Atlanta and Charlotte. Gene Cossey, president and CEO of the Tri-Cities Airport Authority, said in an emailed statement that airport teams have been working "non-stop" to keep the airport open and safe for air traffic. He said this amount of snow is unusual for the airport, but the maintenance and operations crews have handled things well. "As you can see when you check online, the airlines have cancelled a large number of the flights coming from Charlotte and Atlanta as the storm has impacted those airports even greater than it impacted us," Cossey said in the statement. "We advise passengers to pay close attention to the airline information and work directly with the airlines to amend flight plans." To view the latest updates on the airport, visit https://flytri.com/traveler/flights/. This story will be updated throughout the day.