Atlanta weather | Ice causes havoc on roads
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By Mike Morris
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Below is a minute-by-minute update on the wintry weather affecting the Atlanta area. Send updates and photos to breakingnews@ajc.com. For a complete list of closings and delays, check wsbtv.com. Follow @ajc and @a ajcwsbtraffic on Twitter. In the morning, AM 750 and now 95.5 FM will have the current conditions.
Enlarge photo Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com Mark Jones (left) and Natasha Parrott walk to their home after they abandoned their car on Arnold Mill Road in Woodstock Wednesday evening while the icy temperatures and precipitation combined to make the commute a dangerous trip.
Enlarge photo Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com A motorist waits for a police car after he lost control and collided on Towne Lake Parkway in Woodstock.
Enlarge photo John Spink, jspink@ajc.com A wrecker picks up a disabled vehicle along the Stone Mountain Freeway Thursday morning. Icy conditions existed throughout the metro Atlanta area north of I-20 Thursday morning before dawn where bridges and overpasses were affected by the ice.
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Ice causes havoc on roads
.9:09 a.m.: Temperatures continued to climb on the southside, where it was 53 degrees in Peachtree City, 51 in Newnan and 50 in Jonesboro and at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Not so much, though, in the northern suburbs, where the mercury continued to hover around the freezing mark. At 9 a.m., Gainesville reported 31 degrees with freezing rain, the the temperature was 32 inn Dunwoody and Alpharetta, 33 in Johns Creeek, 34 in Chamblee and Canton and 36 in Marietta.
8:57 a.m.: Several elevated interstate ramps downtown remained closed by ice and wrecks. Those included the ramp from the Downtown Connector northbound to Fulton Street and Central Avenue, the ramp from the Buford Highway Connector southbound to Peachtree Street, the ramp from I-20 west to the southbound Downtown Connector and the ramp from the northbound Downtown Connector to I-20.
8:24 a.m.: Cherokee County sheriff's Lt. Jay Baker told the AJC that many roads in the county were still icy, with some of the back roads being impassable. "Right now, it's still a mess," Baker said. He said there had been about 300 wrecks since the roads began icing on Wednesday, and that deputies had responded to 130 calls from stranded motorists who were not involved in wrecks.
8:04 a.m.: A few miles made a world of difference Thursday morning as a warm front pushed almost balmy air into the southern suburbs, while the northern fringes of metro Atlanta were still at or just below freezing. Temperatures at 8 a.m. included 50 degrees in Newnan and Peachtree City and 45 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Meanwhile, on the northside, the temperature was just 31 in Gainesville and 32 in Dunwoody, Alpharetta and Johns Creek.
7:42 a.m.: A wreck involving a tractor-trailer and three smaller vehicles partially blocked the ramp from I-20 westbound to Windsor Street downtown. The ramp from the Buford Highway Connector to Peachtree Street remained blocked by a crash that also involved four vehicles, and the state Department of Transportation predicted it would be another hour before that ramp reopens. Another crash blocked the ramp from the Downtown Connector northbound to Fulton Street near Turner Field.
7:29 a.m.: The elevated portions of the Buford Highway Connector between I-85 and Midtown continued to be icy after 7 a.m. Wrecks completely shut down the ramps to Peachtree Street and the ramp from West Peachtree Street to the Buford Highway Connector.
7:12 a.m.: The warmer air has reached the southern suburbs, where Peachtree City was reporting 48 degrees and Newnan 50. It was still a different story on the northside, however. The 7 a.m. temperature was 31 degrees in Dunwoody and Gainesville and 32 in Alpharetta and Johns Creek.
7 a.m.: The National Weather Service has dropped the winter weather advisory for the northwest corner of the state, but the advisory remains in effect for counties due north and northeast of Atlanta. North Fulton, Cherokee, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Forsyth and Hall counties are included in that advisory, which runs through 10 a.m.
6:42 a.m. In northeast Georgia, the state Department of Transportation reports that a six-vehicle crash is blocking all southbound lanes of Ga. 365 at Level Grove Road in Habersham County. Closer in, a wreck blocked the ramp from the Downtown Connector northbound to Ga. 166, while another crash blocked all eastbound lanes of Ga. 166 between Greenbriar Parkway and Delowe Drive.
6 a.m.: Current temperature is 31 degrees in Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Johns Creek and Gainesville, and 32 downtown and in Chamblee, where the National Weather Service was still reporting freezing rain. The mercury had climbed a degree or two above the freezing mark at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport., Cartersville, Canton and Mableton. The warmer air was just to the south of metro Atlanta, with Columbus reporting 44 degrees and Macon 45 at 6 a.m.
5:45 a.m.: Officials at Georgia Tech issue the following statement:
The Georgia Institute of Technology will delay opening until 10 a.m. on Thursday due to icy conditions on campus and in Atlanta and the surrounding area. However, 8 a.m. finals will continue as scheduled.
Emory University announces plans to open at 9 a.m.
5:41 a.m.: Atlanta police have reopened Ga. 400 near the Toll Plaza after closing the highway due to ice for more than an hour.
5:22 a.m.: Among the numerous roads closed by ice just after 5 a.m.: Ga. 400 near the Toll Plaza and the Stone Mountain Freeway in both directions between Brockett Road and Mountain Industrial Boulevard. Police dispatchers in Cherokee, Forsyth, Douglas and Hall counties tell the WSB Radio Traffic Center that there are too many streets iced over to name.
5 a.m.: Temperatures were beginning to inch their way above the freezing mark in some areas, but remained just below 32 degrees in other spots. Readings at 5 a.m. included 31 in Chamblee, 33 in Cartersville and 34 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Despite the slightly warmer temps, the state Department of Transportation said in an early morning statement that "conditions are expected to remain treacherous through most, if not all, of the morning commute hours. Motorists are requested not to drive until after the sun rises."
12:52 a.m.: One Bartow County dad told the AJC he won't be able to sleep until he knows his wife and 7-year-old daughter are off the road. Scott Barkley said the two left Acworth shortly after 6 p.m. and are still stuck on I-75. If they make it off the interstate, Barkley said they may just pull into a parking lot and sleep. "Every hotel in the county is booked," Barkley said.
12:32 a.m.: Cherokee County deputies are still dealing with wrecks and stranded motorists, Lt. Jay Baker told the AJC. But the number of wrecks has decreased due to less drivers on the roads, Baker said.
12:15 a.m.: Cobb County dispatchers received nearly 350 calls from 4 p.m. until shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday night, Officer Joe Hernandez with Cobb police told the AJC. But officers could not get to all of the wrecks, and had to focus on those with injuries, Hernandez said. That puts the number of wrecks in the metro area to more than 1,000.
11:38 p.m.: There were nearly 900 wrecks in metro Atlanta on Wednesday because of the sleet and ice. Crews will be working overnight to prepare roads for the morning commute. Thick, dense, cold arctic air will remain over Georgia Wednesday night, but a warm front will start to move in around 5 a.m. Thursday, Channel 2 Action News Chief Meteorologist Glenn Burns said. The warm front will cause temperatures to rise, but it may take a while for conditions on the roads to improve because it has been so cold for so long, Burns said. “We have been in a deep freeze for many days, and the ground is frozen,” Burns said. Temperatures should be in the upper 40s to low 50s by Thursday afternoon, Burns said.
11:14 p.m.: Fulton County schools will be closed tomorrow. The school board meeting will take place, however, officials said.
11:02 p.m.: Cobb County schools will be delayed by two hours Thursday, Jay Dillon, district spokesman, told the AJC. Paulding County classes will also be delayed two hours.
10:42 p.m.: Gwinnett County firefighters responded to 178 incidents between 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said. Two wrecks resulted in serious injuries. No injuries were reported in a 15-vehicle pileup on Old Peachtree Road and I-85 North in Suwanee, Rutledge said.
10:32 p.m.: School is delayed two hours Thursday in Forsyth County. No classes will be held in Bartow County.
10:19 p.m.: AirTran canceled two additional flights Wednesday night, bringing the total number of canceled flights in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to 31.
10:09 p.m.: Between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., 226 wrecks were reported in DeKalb County, police said.
9:59 p.m.: Classes are canceled for Cherokee County schools Thursday. Check other closings here.
9:55 p.m.: Abandoned vehicles along Eagle Drive from Rose Creek to Town Lake Parkway in Cherokee County are making it difficult for road crews to get through to pour salt and gravel. Those who have left their cars should try to move them, or least move them to the far right shoulder of the road, Lt. Jay Baker said.
9:48 p.m.: Government offices in Cherokee County will open later than usual Thursday. Check for other closings and delays.
9:27 p.m.: No serious injuries or deaths have been reported despite the hundreds of wrecks in Cobb County, Officer Joe Hernandez told the AJC.
9:12 p.m.: Several roads have been closed in Cherokee County due to ice. Those include: Reinhardt College Parkway, Mill Creek Road, Towne Lake Parkway, Woodstock Road overpass at I-75, and Hickory Flat Highway at the Cherokee-Fulton county line. Other roads are also impassable, according to Lt. Jay Baker with the sheriff's office.
9:04 p.m.: No fatalities have been reported despite wrecks throughout DeKalb County, police spokeswoman Mekka Parish told the AJC.
8:55 p.m.: The precipitation is changing over to rain, but we're not out of the woods yet, Channel 2 Actions News Chief Meteorologist Glenn Burns said. "It may take all night for the temperatures to warm up."
8:39 p.m.: Some roads in Paulding County look like used car lots due to all the crashed cars, Deputy Ashley Henson with the sheriff's office said. “We’re suggesting people walk to their houses in some locations where roads closed. It's a better alternative."
8:30 p.m.: From Gwinnett to DeKalb to Cobb and Cherokee, traffic is a mess all over. Many major highways are closed due to multiple wrecks, GDOT is reporting. Interstate ramps are also blocked.
8:26 p.m.: After working their shifts, some Cobb County police officers were called back to duty to help with the numerous crashes, Officer Joe Hernandez told the AJC.
8:25 p.m.: Life-threatening injuries reported after wreck off Old Fountain Road in Dacula in Gwinnett County, police told the AJC. Read more.
8:10 p.m.: There have been multiple reports of vehicles being abandoned on Cherokee County roads, said Lt. Jay Baker. County DOT will be salting roadways throughout the night. Any vehicles left abandoned on the roadway and blocking salt trucks will have to be removed by wreckers. Persons stranded in their vehicles will receive assistance. Cars left on the side of the roadway that are not blocking traffic will not be removed tonight however could be struck by salt and gravel from the salt trucks, Baker said.
8:05 p.m.: GDOT is reporting a 5-vehicle pileup on I-285 east between Chamblee-Tucker Road and I-85 south. All lanes are blocked until 8:25 p.m.
8 p.m.: People in Cherokee County have been leaving their cars to walk home after being stuck without moving for an hour or more on some major thoroughfares, such as Towne Lake Parkway and Sixes Road.
7:50 p.m.: No serious injuries have been reported in Douglas County, but there have been dozens of crashes, Wes Tallon, county spokesman, told the AJC. Crews area ready to put salt and sand out on the icy spots, Tallon said.
7:43 p.m.: DeKalb police have closed the Lawrenceville Highway overpass across I-285 and officers are routing drivers to alternate two-lane streets.
7:42 p.m.: A driver on Ga. 20 in Cherokee County reported traffic backed up along 20 from I-575 east to the Macedonia community and that near I-575 it was at a dead stop.
7:36 p.m.: More than 50 wrecks have been reported in the city of Alpharetta during the past three hours, a spokesman for the city said. “The city has experienced areas of icy patches on the roadways, primarlily on side streets and north of exit 8 on Ga. 400."
7:35 p.m.: The Georgia State Patrol is working several crashes, many near bridges in Douglas and Carroll counties, spokesman Gordy Wright told the AJC.
7:26 p.m.: The number of crashes in Cherokee County has mounted. Police spokesman Lt. Jay Baker says 173 accidents have been reported since 4 p.m.
7:25 p.m.: Atlanta police are reporting 81 crashes, most of them downtown and in Buckhead.
7:05 p.m.: In Cherokee County, deputies began getting multiple calls for accidents about 5 p.m. from icy patches on the roads. The bridge at the Sixes Road exit on I-575 was closed. The rolling hills of Cherokee County exacerbated the problems, stranding drivers in the cars as they were unable to make it either up or down the glazed roads.
7:01 p.m.: The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office is advising that if you must drive, stay on main roads and travel at extremely slow speeds. There are dozens of wrecks in the county.
6:49 p.m.: WSB is reporting that Clairmont Road is closed between Peachtree Industrial and Peachtree Road due to ice.
6:48 p.m.: DeKalb County’s 911 center reports traffic back-ups across the county from the icy road conditions. The Clairmont Road and Peachtree Industrial Road bridges have been shut down due to black ice. Kensington Road between Camp and Porter roads also was shut down because of the ice. There also are reports of black ice on the I-285 exit to I-85 southbound, although the exit remained open as of 6:45 p.m. Reports of black ice persist along the northern part of I-285, creating traffic back-ups at several exits. Traffic was moving, very slowly, north of I-285, with bumper-to-bumper traffic on Ashford Dunwoody and Hammond Drive in the Perimeter area.
6:45 p.m.: The non-emergency line for Gwinnett County responders has a wait time due to the number of incoming calls.
6:45 p.m.: The ice that glazed the roads to the north and west of Atlanta resulted from a rare weather phenomenon, and conditions probably won’t change until after daybreak Thursday morning. A relatively thin mass of arctic air, about 1,000 feet deep, has been hugging Atlanta and freezing the soil, while comparatively balmy air in the 40 degree range moved in overhead, Robert Beasley, a forecaster for the National Weather Service, told the AJC. The warmer air above carried moisture, and when it produced rain drops, the water passed through the arctic layer, cooling it further. “It’s like putting water in front of a fan,” said Beasley, who works in the Weather Service’s Peachtree City office. “That was a perfect setup for everything to be covered with a glaze of ice." The ice seems to have blanketed mostly the northern and western suburbs of Atlanta, he said.
6:45 p.m.: Traffic is terrible in Bartow, Chattooga, Cherokee, Douglas, Floyd and Paulding counties, Beasley said. Some roads, such U.S. Highway 127, were so bad that they were closed, he said. Floyd County told him they had too many accidents to count. The Weather Service has revised its winter weather advisory to cover everything north of I-20. Beasley expects the temperature to remain below freezing until 7 a.m., with ice coating the ground until the rising sun warms the air. “Once we hit daybreak, things will improve rapidly,” Beasley said. “Then this will all be a distant memory.”
6:42 p.m.: “We have units responding to multiple car accidents in the north and east portions of the county at this time,” Gwinnett County fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge told the AJC.
6:36 p.m.: There’s a 70 percent chance of rain Thursday, but the temperatures will climb into the lower 50s, Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Glenn Burns said. Go here for updates.
6:25 p.m.: Police in Atlanta were reporting crashes, but far fewer than in the northern metro areas. There were 21 calls about crashes, Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos said.
6:21 p.m.: Many off-duty Paulding County sheriff deputies have been called in to help deal with crashes all over the county, Deputy Ashley Henson told the AJC. “We have black ice everywhere,” Henson said. “If they’re on the road, please, please slow down.”
6:20 p.m.: Officer George Gordon in Alpharetta confirmed that there were more than 40 crashes in the 30 square mile city from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., the most he’s ever heard of in a two-hour period. “I don’t ever recall a number that high,” he said. “They’re getting flooded at the 911 center.” Gordon said most of the crashes have been minor and that dispatchers are urging those drivers to swap insurance information because police can’t reach every crash. In Georgia, it’s legal for drivers to do that and leave when the damages are under $500, Gordon said.
6:12 p.m.: Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce said more than 200 crashes have been reported during the past two hours. “We are not responding to crashes without injury,” Pierce told the AJC. Those involved in minor crashes are asked to exchange insurance information and report the incident to a precinct. “If you don’t have to drive, don’t.”
6:05 p.m.: Deerfield Parkway northbound is shut in Milton due to a wreck. Drivers are asked to detour to Webb Road.
6 p.m.: AirTran Airways spokesman Christopher White tells the AJC anyone planning to fly out of or into Atlanta between 7 p.m. Wednesday until noon Thursday can change their reservation for free by going to airtran.com.
6 p.m.: The icy conditions appear to be restricted to the northern metro area. Police in Atlanta and DeKalb County were reporting no weather-related crashes during the evening commute. But Lt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee County police said conditions were so bad that “drivers should get off the roads if possible.” If they can’t, they should drive “extremely” slowly, he said. None of the crashes have resulted in serious injury. “We have had some broken bones but no fatalities so far,” Baker said.
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