Kentucky Transportation Cabinet crews in 10 of the 11 counties of District 1 were out much of the night responding to an intense snow event that rolled across the region Sunday afternoon and evening.
The event started several hours earlier than expected with a wintry mix in late afternoon that created hazardous driving and kept tow trucks busy for hours.
The wet snow turned to slush when it hit road surfaces that had been warmed by sunshine over the last few days. The slush aided crews by making it easy for plows to push the snow off roadways, but as it built up under vehicle tires it created more than a fair share of hazardous driving conditions for travelers.
Highway surface temperatures have generally remained at or above freezing with ambient air temperatures also holding near the freezing mark.
Most crews focused on treating bridges and overpassed during the early hours of the event, but turned to plowing as the storm dumped heavy wet snow across the region starting in the Ohio River border counties and moving to the southeast. Some counties escaped the storms wrath with only about an inch of accumulation.
Even in areas with heavier accumulations, warm pavement temperatures and warming air temps helped to turn the frozen precipitation to slush and make it fairly easy for plows to push of the roadway.
Motorists are advised to use extra caution on the morning commute. Some slick spots may hang around, particularly on bridges and overpasses, until temperatures rise well above freezing later into the morning hours.
Motorists traveling eastward through Kentucky or southward into Central Tennessee will likely find highway crews still out on the road up into the day where the winter storm arrived later in the night and some snow may continue falling through the morning hours.