Black Ice Friday Morning, Utility Progress Made

Temperatures stand in the lower 20s across the Upper Cumberland Friday morning with some light snow and freezing drizzle falling in many areas.

Patchy freezing fog may also be an issue. Most secondary roads are slick. Black ice will appear when you think roads are just damp. In other places, snow has stuck overnight to roadways, creating a very thin glaze.

This applies to main roads as well. Highway 70 in Putnam County, for example, is very slick Friday morning. If you are going to be out before sunrise, take it very slow.

One eastbound lane of I-40 near mile marker 277 was closed Thursday night just before 11:30pm after a large tree fell across the roadway.

Upper Cumberland Electric continued to make progress on power restoration Thursday night. As of 4am Friday morning, 5,500 customers are without power across the region. That includes roughly 3000 in Putnam County, 1500 in Overton County and about 950 customers in Jackson County.

In Putnam County, Mayor Randy Porter said crews made progress in areas around Cookeville High School Thursday night. In Overton County, crews continue to work in the Allons area as well as Rickman and Alpine, according to County Executive Ben Danner.

Jackson County Mayor Randy Heady said three-phase lines have been repaired across most of the county, allowing crews to focus on more individual streets and highways. Heady said Thursday night UCEMC crews are working along York Highway, and are getting to the New Hope Community and Pleasant Hill.

Volunteer Energy reports less than 100 total outages across Fentress and Pickett Counties Friday morning. The outages are centered in northern Fentress County and western sections of Pickett.

More trees could fall today as ice begins melting causing a shifting of weight.