Nashville got hit incredibly hard by the ice storm that was brought along by Winter Storm Fern.
Hope everyone out there that’s been affected by the winter storm is as safe and warm as possible. Thousands of people in the Nashville area remain without power, and it’s all because of the freezing rain that hit Davidson County. The Metro Nashville area ended up being right on the line of snow and rain, which ended up being a worst case scenario for the city and the surrounding Middle Tennessee area.
As you can see in the weather report below, the bullseye of the storm affected the city of Nashville with almost an inch of freezing rain:
Power outages have been widespread, and electric companies are working tirelessly to restore power to affected areas. The only issue? As they continue to repair downed power lines, trees frozen by freezing rain – and staying that way because of frigid temperatures – are still losing limbs and falling down.
Some are falling on power lines and blowing transformers. Others are falling down on roadways, making some areas of Nashville hard to access for emergency response crews. And temperatures are expected to fall to 0 degrees in Nashville tonight, which will a) prolong the impact of frozen trees and b) cause critical issues to those without power.
All in all, it’s a disaster in Nashville. Though the winter wonderland is a beautiful sight if you are just looking at it from an aesthetic viewpoint, it’s incredibly dangerous for residents in Music City.
Here are just a few photos and videos that capture the current situation in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s truly an ice storm that people in Middle Tennessee are going to remember, and feel the impacts of, for quite some time:
Funny enough, I live in Nashville and retreated to Kentucky when I saw that an ice storm was shaping up. Why? Because I lived in Kentucky when an ice storm hit the state in 2009. Ironically, I remember relocating to Nashville (areas of Kentucky were out of power for over a week) for a short period of time just so that we had power and heat.
Many Nashville residents are weighing their options right now as cold temperatures are expected to stick around for a prolonged period of time. Snow is manageable, but an ice storm like this can cripple communities, and as you can see from those photos and videos above, make areas with a high population of trees very dangerous (and unrecognizable in the aftermath).
The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore warned Nashvillians of impeding winter weather early last week, but at that time, the forecast showed one to two feet of snow. It’s a shame that the expected snow changed to ice, because now the Nashville Metro area will likely be digging themselves out of the ice for days… if not weeks.
Stay safe out there Nashville, and stay put if you can! Hopefully things warm up and Music City can start picking up the pieces and getting back to normal.
