The Shelby County, Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville and Lakeland school systems announced they'll remain closed Wednesday as cold weather persists and creates dangerous driving conditions.
Shelby County Schools superintendent Dorsey Hopson announced the closure on Twitter.
Between midnight and 2 p.m. Tuesday, Memphis police handled 125 motor vehicle crashes, none of which were critical or fatal, police Lt. Karen Rudolph wrote in an email.
Drivers in Memphis will face dangerously icy roads again on Wednesday morning as melted snow hardens in the overnight cold, the National Weather Service said.
“These roadways are going to freeze back up,” said agency meteorologist Zachery Maye.
As he spoke with a reporter about 4:30 p.m., the city was seeing snow-melting sunshine, but the temperature was only 15 degrees, and expected to drop. “We have a low temperature of seven tonight," he said.
That's well below average for this time of year. Typical temperatures for the day are a low of around 31 degrees and a high of about 49 degrees. The record low for Jan. 16 was three degrees, set in 1982.
Drivers will likely face dangerous ice not just on Wednesday morning, but again on Thursday morning, he said, though temperatures are finally expected to rise above freezing that day.
It was a snow day in Memphis Tuesday as drivers carefully plied the roads and children played outside during their fifth consecutive day out of school.
About two inches of snow fell in Memphis from late Monday night and into Tuesday morning.
It was part of a big winter storm system that moved through the region. In the Union City area, snowfall totaled about five inches, Maye said.
Memphis-area school systems had already called off classes for ice and snow on Friday, and students enjoyed regularly scheduled days off for the weekend and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday before the snow storm prompted a fifth day off Tuesday.
While some children doubtlessly welcomed the time off, the snowstorm was not without its dangers. Temperatures were low enough to cause injury or even death to those who spent time outdoors without adequate protection.
The cold weather prompted the city to announce it was opening its warming center at the Benjamin Hooks Central Library starting at 5 p.m. Anyone who needs a ride to a warm place may call 636-2525.
It wasn't clear if the deep cold weather might prompt school systems to call off classes for another day. "We do have gave a decision yet but will continue to monitor roads, sidewalks, parking lots and the weather conditions," a spokesperson for the Shelby County Schools system wrote in an email.