The Groundhog Lied!

Did the groundhog see his shadow in 2011? This should have been easy to answer given the record-breaking snowfall and freezing conditions encompassing much of the winter here and many other places across the nation.  It seemed to most of us that that winter couldn't possibly be ending soon.   Yet the groundhog did NOT see his shadow on February 2, which gave some of us a false hope that spring might really be coming!  Well, I am here to tell you, "the groundhog lied!".


Here's is an excerpt from Clarksville's local paper today:
A cold, rainy morning quickly turned into a snowy disaster Monday, catching many Clarksville motorists and schools off guard.

This is a picture of our kid's bus stuck trying to make it up the hill on Powell Road yesterday.  Fortunately, we picked up Alex and Jesikah, but this same bus picks up our elementary kids and they arrived home 45 minutes late!  We were very nervous after reading about the road conditions and having been out there to see how bad it was.

The storm, which dumped anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of snow across Montgomery County, sent students home early and kept emergency personnel busy throughout the day.


Today, the forecast calls for it to be partly cloudy with a high near 31, but the fair weather will be short-lived. Meteorologist for the National Weather Service David Matson said there's a 60 percent chance for more snow on Wednesday. No winter warning has yet been issued for Wednesday, but Matson said the conditions are right to produce a good amount of snow.


"It's cold enough, and good moisture is coming up from the south," Matson said. " The closer we get to it, the better we'll know."


As the snow quickly accumulated, calls to the E-911 Center began to pour in. Wrecks were reported all over town and on Interstate 24. There were 370 weather-related calls between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in Clarksville, according to a news release from Clarksville Police spokesman Officer Jim Knoll. Law enforcement responded to about 59 accidents without injures and 11 accidents with injuries and assisted 14 motorists, Knoll said.


Several school buses were among the dozens of wrecks reported throughout the morning and afternoon. A few buses had issues going up hill, slid off the roadway and got stuck in a ditch. No students were injured.


Students were dismissed from schools two hours early, but snow blanketed city and county streets before buses could safely deliver all of the children to their homes.


Clarksville-Montgomery County School System spokeswoman Elise Shelton said tow trucks and wreckers were on standby for the school system and that all CMCSS students were home safe by 5 p.m. "It's bad road conditions," Shelton said. "It happened faster than we expected. We made the announcement to close early before the precipitation came."


Shelton said students will not have to make up the two hours of missed time on Monday. However, with schools canceled today, 30 minutes will be added to each CMCSS school day beginning March 10, not to exceed TCAP week.