Early commuters found Friday’s predawn drive icy and dicey - and in one instance deadly — but the reports of icing slowed after daybreak, as bright sunshine helped melt the black ice scattered across metro Atlanta.
“We think we’re ahead of this now,” said Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Karlene Barron. “This is pretty much behind us.”
The morning was far from normal for more than 100,000 customers of Georgia Power and the state’s electric membership cooperatives still without electricity.
Here’s what you need to know on this Valentine’s Day return to work:
Roads
“If you can, please do not travel until after the sun rises and temperatures get above freezing to minimize your chances of encountering black ice,” advised Teri Pope, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation.
A patch of that ice led to a fatal wreck before just daybreak in Paulding County, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
Alice Tucker, 71, of Douglasville died after losing control of her vehicle on a patch of ice around 6:45 a.m. on Ga. 6 in Paulding County, according to the GSP. Tucker’s vehicle crossed the median and collided with an oncoming pickup truck.
In downtown Atlanta, the ramp from I-20 eastbound to I-75/85 northbound was shut down at 6:30 a.m. because of a minor wreck that happened on an icy patch. The icy patch had been sanded and the ramp reopened by 7 a.m.
GDOT reported icing on several state routes, including Ga. 20 at Bethelview Road in Forsyth County, Ga. 120 at I-85 in Gwinnett County and Winder Highway near Youngblood Road, Mundy Mill Road at Frontage Road, Ga. 60 at Aviation Boulevard and Ga. 52 at Magnolia Station Road in Hall County.
Also, black ice was reported by GDOT on the Lee Road entrance ramp to I-20 eastbound in Douglas County, on I-85 northbound at Buford Drive in Gwinnett County and on U.S. 78 eastbound at I-285 in DeKalb County.
Other early trouble spots reported by the AM750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB Traffic Center included East Cherokee Drive near Ga. 5 in Cherokee County and North Marietta Parkway near Cobb Parkway and the East/West Connector west of Austell Road in Cobb County.
“It’s definitely not a normal rush hour,” according to the Traffic Center’s Capt. Herb Emory.
Other problem spots in Cobb County at 7 a.m. included the ramp from I-575 southbound to I-75 and the left lane of I-285 eastbound at I-75.
In DeKalb County, a 6 a.m. wreck on I-285 southbound at U.S. 78 that involved an overturned vehicle was being blamed on an icy patch. That wreck was cleared by 7, but other icy patches were later reported on I-285 northbound at Memorial Drive and at Covington Highway.
In Bartow County, a 5:45 a.m. wreck involving a tractor-trailer loaded with 49,000 pounds of liquid sugar and several smaller vehicles, blocked all northbound lanes of I-75 north of Glade Road for several hours.
Four people were injured in that incident, which the GSP said initially involved two vehicles that had wrecked and been moved to the right emergency lane. A third vehicle had stopped to check on the drivers of those first two vehicles when the driver of another northbound vehicle in the left lane hit a patch of ice, lost control and began spinning.
The tractor-trailer driver swerved to avoid the spinning vehicle and struck the three vehicles that were stopped in the right emergency lane.
Weather
Predawn temperatures ranged from 26 in Marietta and Cartersville and 27 in Alpharetta and Peachtree City to 28 in Chamblee and 31 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, but by 9 a.m. were in the mid- to upper 30s across metro Atlanta.
Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton said those temperatures will continue to climb into the low 50s during the afternoon, and while there’s a 60 percent chance of evening rain, the precipitation should be all rain across most of metro Atlanta.
The National Weather Service said a light dusting of snow is possible overnight north of a line from Buchanan to Canton to Helen, with accumulations of 1 to 2 inches possible at the higher elevations of the northeast Georgia mountains.
Saturday should be mostly sunny, with morning lows around 32 and afternoon highs in the mid-40s.
The sunny skies will continue through Sunday, when lows will again be in the low 30s and afternoon highs will reach the mid-50s.
Public transportation
MARTA began running trains 4:35 a.m., and began operating bus service on 30 routes at 7 a.m. Spokesman Lyle Harris said all bus routes, including the Mobility paratransit vans, will begin operating on a Sunday schedule at noon.
Cobb Community Transit planned to operate all local routes as well as CCT Express service on routes 100, 101 and 102.
Schools
Most metro Atlanta school systems are either closed because of the weather or were already scheduled to be closed.
— Staff writer Andria Simmons contributed to this article.
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