As light snow continued to fall across Tuscaloosa County early Tuesday evening, local officials said they had received no reports of major problems associated with the storm.
Still, residents were encouraged to remain off the roadways as much as possible until the storm had passed and full assessments could be made of road conditions Wednesday morning.
"We encourage people to pay attention and minimize travel as much as possible tonight," said Rob Robertson, director of the Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management Agency.
The wide band of winter weather had an impact throughout the South, affecting roads in Louisiana, Kentucky and elsewhere.
Robertson said some icy patches had been reported in northern Tuscaloosa County -- near New Lexington; on Alabama Highway 171 north of Moore's Bridge; Alabama Highway 43 North near its intersection with Tuscaloosa County Road 68 -- but no trees were reported down nor any serious damage.
Tuscaloosa County road crews had been sent to alleviate these issues, Robertson said, and Northport and Tuscaloosa city crews also had been spreading sand and de-icing materials in certain spots to prevent the ice from becoming too treacherous.
"So far, traffic has been very light, which is good, and people seem to be taking it easy," Robertson said.
Deidre Stalnaker, media relations coordinator for the city of Tuscaloosa, echoed Robertson's assessment of minimal troubles associated, so far, with the winter storm.
While the Tuscaloosa area remains under a winter storm watch, a hard freeze warning and wind chill and winter weather advisories, city road crews had been sanding and de-icing mainly bridges, overpasses and certain hilly roads, she said.
"It's rather quiet," Stalnaker said. "Looks like people are staying off the roads."
While roadways remained clear as the sun went down, falling temperatures could cause that to change.
With the mercury expected to dip into the mid-teens by 6 a.m., road conditions could change as any lingering precipitation from Tuesday's snow freezes in place.
The Alabama Department of Transportation is joining the chorus of warning Alabamians to expect icy roadways and bridges lasting until temperatures return to above freezing.
Icy conditions may develop on any streets or highways, especially bridges, overpasses, elevated spans, and hilly or shaded areas, even in areas that may have been pre-treated in advance of wintry precipitation, said John D. McWilliams, spokesman for ALDOT's West Central Region.
This region consists of Bibb, Chilton, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Marion, Perry, Pickens, Sumter, Tuscaloosa, Walker and Winston counties. As of 3:30 p.m. all interstate, U.S., and state routes in the West Central Region were passable, McWilliams said.
ALDOT crews would continue working to keep these roadways passable until conditions improve, but unsafe conditions still could become present in some areas.
For those who do venture out, McWilliams said driving speeds should be determined by the road conditions. This means that speeds on wet or icy roads should be slower than the posted speed limit.
"ALDOT, emergency management and law enforcement officials are united in urging people to avoid travel after snow or wintry mix begins falling, and until conditions improve," McWilliams said. "Motorists should slow down and move over if possible when approaching ALDOT and other highway maintenance personnel and emergency vehicles at work."
McWilliams said those needing up-to-date information on road conditions in Alabama can find it ALGOtraffic.com or download the ALGO Traffic app through the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Earlier Tuesday, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox urged drivers to be safe while expressing concerns for potential power outages that may come with the storm.
“If you have to be out on the roads -- and we stress, that’s not a good option -- but if you have to be out, assume every road is treacherous,” Maddox said.
Aside from icy road conditions, which can hamper travel and keep emergency responders from being able to quickly respond as needed, Maddox said he’s also concerned about potential power outages.
There was not a heavy prediction of this, but with ice and trees it is certainly a possibility -- especially as the icy conditions are expected to remain into Wednesday and possibly beyond.
“We have a lot of people in Tuscaloosa that, if they lose power -- especially with temperatures dropping so dramatically -- that can create a health issue fairly quickly,” Maddox said.
But unlike the 2014 snow storm that crippled much of the state’s road network, forcing motorists to abandon their vehicles and spend the night in emergency shelters, Maddox said everyone seemed to be more prepared and ready for whatever could be coming.
With schools and some businesses closing on Tuesday, there was not the danger of so many drivers getting on the roads at once.
There also was more preparation by emergency responders and governmental operations, he said.
“In advance, we were able to have our operations sound and secure and work with the social service providers to make sure they were able to deliver services. So, at this point, I feel very good,” the mayor said. “This situation is so much better than it was several years ago when we all got caught by surprise.”
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Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.