Winter weather update: What can Middle Tennessee expect Saturday and Sunday and into next week?

Spring-like warm and wet weather is expected next week after nearly a foot of snow fell in parts of Middle Tennessee since Jan. 15 forcing roads to be closed along with businesses and schools for days.

Though until then, bitterly cold temps are expected throughout the weekend.

“Sunday night will be another cold one… and then Monday temperatures really shoot up. You’re looking at mid 40s and then temperatures stay above freezing through the rest of the forecast,” National Weather Service in Nashville Meteorologist Matt Reagan said Saturday. “Even in the afternoons, I’d say as early as Wednesday, we could reach or even go above 60 degrees. By Thursday we could be looking at mid 60s.”

“We’ll get our great thaw we’ve been looking for and it’ll be a wet forecast,” Reagan said.

As for the expected rainfall, NWS meteorologists aren’t overly concerned about flooding, officials said.

More: Middle Tennessee snow totals unchanged, frigid temps return before rain, possible flooding

One complicating factor could be the snow already on the ground.

“The good thing is, it was more of a powdery snow, which means it doesn’t have as much liquid content, so if you melted all that down you might have an additional half an inch of liquid to add on top of that rain,” Reagan said.

Recent drought conditions and low water levels are a few of the factors working in our favor as well.

“We’ve had recent drought conditions and bodies of water are running on the low side already, definitely works in our favor,” he said.

Looking ahead, the Nashville area can expect to receive about 2-4 inches of rain Monday night through Saturday. Though NWS meteorologists in Nashville will continue to monitor impending rainfall amounts in the days ahead, Reagan said.

But the bitterly cold temps haven’t left us yet.

More: No, Tennessee. You can't drive ATVs on snow-covered highways, TDOT says

High temps aren’t expected to rise above the teens Saturday afternoon and with snowpack on the ground, temps will drop again Saturday night, according to NWS forecasts.

“Right now, in the Nashville Metro area, we’re looking at lows ranging from about 1 to 5 degrees … what it’ll feel like though, especially as we get closer to daybreak (Sunday), is probably between 0 and minus 5 degrees on the wind chills,” Reagan said.

Even though bitterly cold temps are expected tonight, it won’t beat the all-time record low mean temp of minus 5 set by Nashville on Jan. 20, 1985, according to the National Weather Service in Nashville, where after a daytime high of 7 degrees, temps fell to minus 16 in Nashville, establishing the record.

“We should not get that cold,” he said. “It’ll still be single digits and be cold enough where people will want to stay inside for sure.”

State of Emergency Operations Center in Nashville activated to Level 4.

The State Emergency Operations Center in Nashville remains activated at a Level 4 - Elevated to support local requests, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said in a press release at 9:05 p.m. on Friday.

Activation levels are necessary for the public to understand the size of an emergency and to assist TEMA leadership.

Activation levels range between Level 5 – Normal Operations to Level 1 – Catastrophic Disaster, and help describe emergencies by how quickly a situation is deteriorating, the likelihood of exceeding local capabilities, whether state or federal assistance will be required and more.

Under a Level 4 – Elevated activation, TEMA may reinforce staff to perform more frequent monitoring of a situation when there is a potential or likelihood of an emergency developing or worsening.

Since several inches of snow blanketed the region during the first winter storm of 2024 on Monday, residents have seen impacts to roads, power and water systems throughout the state.

Though the demand on power and water systems has significantly increased, TVA has remained stable, the release said. However, several water systems throughout the state have reported operational issues that may result in boil water advisories, loss of water or loss of water pressure, it said.

Before we explore power and water outages, here’s a few highlights from the release:

• The entire state is impacted by extreme winter weather.

• Due to the extremely cold weather, Tennessee Valley Authority officials have requested the public to continue voluntarily conserving energy, so long as it remains safe to do.

• Emergency Service Coordinators from several state departments are monitoring the situation and standing by to provide local jurisdictions assistance.

More winter-related deaths claim Tennessee lives

Nineteen weather-related fatalities are now confirmed by the Tennessee Department of Health, according to TEMA officials.

Six winter-related fatalities had initially been reported by TDH officials on Tuesday. Though the number of deaths quickly grew to 14 Thursday, before another three deaths were added to the total count Friday morning, the Tennessean previously reported. Two more deaths were reported by TEMA officials Friday night.

More: Tennessee officials: Winter weather deaths rise to 17, crashes, falls, cold to blame

TDH officials have not identified the victims by name.

“TDH does not release specific details about deaths given privacy concerns over releasing individually identifiable information,” Tennessee Department of Health Office of Communication & Media Relations Associate Director Bill Christian said.

Winter-related deaths have occurred across the state including seven in Shelby County, two in Washington and Marshall Counties and one in Hickman, Madison, Carroll, Knox, Van Buren, Lauderdale, Henry and Roane Counties, TEMA officials said in the release.

Officials urge people to stay indoors when possible and take precautions when going out during extreme cold.

“It’s extremely important for people to be very cautious when venturing out in hazardous winter weather and when keeping themselves warm at home: Don’t drive if you don’t have to; Bundle up and don’t say out in the cold very long and don’t walk across frozen bodies of water,” Christian said.

“Also, if your home heating system fails and you use a generator, do not operate it in the house where dangerous carbon monoxide fumes can accumulate and never use an outdoor grill indoors for cooking or warmth, as these grills put out significant amounts of carbon monoxide and increase fire danger.”

More: Emergency shelters open across Middle Tennessee to aid those in need during frigid temps

Anyone needing assistance staying warm should visit one of the many warming centers in Middle Tennessee that have been established by local counties for those who may be in need during the extreme cold.

Warming Centers can be found in Clay, Davidson, Dekalb, Dickson, Hickman, Houston, Maury, Montgomery, Overton, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Trousdale and Wilson Counties.

For location information and a list of established warming centers, visit tn.gov/tema/warming-centers.

Power and water outages. Are you affected?

As families prepare for more bitterly cold temps this weekend, some may be doing so without power or water.

An increased demand on power and water systems across the state have left some without services amid extremely cold temps this week, after the first winter storm of 2024 blanketed parts of Tennessee in several inches of snow on Monday.

While residents continue to grapple with the extreme cold, TVA officials recommend conserving energy if it is safe to do so, TEMA officials said in the release.

“Conservation requests are often used in the power industry to help lower demand during a specific time and does not indicate TVA is experiencing emergency conditions,” TVA officials said in a press release on Jan. 16.

In the past year alone, 1,500 megawatts of new natural gas generation – enough to power more than 800,000 homes – have been added to TVA’s power system, the release said.

Middle Tennessee electric companies including Nashville Electric Service, Middle Tennessee Electric and Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation reported minimal outages for their service areas as of 2:50 p.m. on Saturday.

A total of 47 power outages were reported by Nashville Electric Service, Middle Tennessee Electric had three reports of customers being without power Saturday afternoon and Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation reported zero power outages for their coverage area.

In the event of a power outage, TEMA and First Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability officials say there is a high probability of water pipes freezing due to the extreme cold and recommend that water supply lines be drained to avoid a break.

More: What to do when water pipes burst due to cold weather in Middle Tennessee

For the latest information on power outages in your area, view the map below.

As for water system issues and outages, Metro Water Services in Nashville reported 8 active water main breaks with repairs in progress as of 2:50 p.m. on Saturday.

An additional four potential water main breaks are under investigation at this time.

A total of 16 counties reported water utilities with operational issues and 19 water systems have issued Boil Water Advisories as of 7 p.m. on Friday, TEMA officials said in the release.

Here’s a look at the active Boil Water Advisories in affect in Middle Tennessee:

• Giles Pulaski Water Department

• Giles Minor Hill Water System

• Giles Tarpley Shop Utility District

• Giles South Giles Water System

• Giles Fairview Utility District

• Lawrence Lexington/Rascaltown

Other Middle Tennessee water systems reported issues without issuing Boil Water Advisories including Bedford Bell Buckle, Giles Admore Water System, Giles Ardmore, Lawrence NE Lawrence, Lawrence Fall River Road, Lawrence, Summertown, Lawrence Leoma, Lawrence Lawrenceburg Utility System and Maury Mount Pleasant.

NDOT, TDOT crews still working. Are roads clear?

Since the winter storm struck Middle Tennessee on Monday, many state agencies continue to provide road and motorist assistance including the Tennessee Department of Transportation and Tennessee Highway Patrol.

TDOT officials have reported that many roads, especially secondary routes, continue to be impacted by the extreme cold, snow and wintry precipitation, TEMA officials said in the release.

On Friday, Nashville Department of Transportation had crews working a combination of primary and secondary routes, NDOT officials said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

TDOT Community Relations Officer Rebekah Hammonds said on Friday that crews were out clearing roads following the additional snow accumulation overnight on Thursday.

“Our northern counties have been seeing snow this morning; some shoulders and lanes are getting white. We have crews out. Thankfully there were no major incidents overnight,” Hammonds said on X.

As of 2 p.m. Saturday, TDOT SmartWay’s traffic cameras show highways are clear across Middle Tennessee.

For up-to-date information on road and traffic conditions, visit the TDOT SmartWay traffic map at smartway.tn.gov. Live videos feeds of Tennessee roads and highways can be found at smartway.tn.gov/allcams.

Katie Nixon can be reached at knixon@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Winter weather update: What can Middle Tennessee expect into next week