Ice causing problems on north Ga. roads

FANNIN COUNTY, Ga. — Slick driving conditions are causing some trouble in northeast Georgia, which is under a winter weather advisory until Sunday morning.

Fannin, Gilmer and Murray counties saw heavy snowfall, about three to five inches on Saturday, when scores of Channel 2 Action News viewers captured the snowy scenes in pictures sent through social media and email.

What started as a light dusting of winter weather going north on Highway 5, a few miles south of Ellijay, quickly turned to heavy snowfall by the time Channel 2's Ashley Swann made it to Cherry Log in Gilmer County. That's where a Channel 2 Action News crew encountered its first accident victim, Carol Weaver.

"I decided to go skiing and took the truck with me. Or it took me with it," Weaver said.

Weaver was headed to Blue Ridge Saturday afternoon when she wrecked her SUV into a guard rail.

"If it weren't for the guard rail, I'd be in the creek," she said. "As many years as I've driven in snow, I've never had any problem like this."

But she wasn't the only one.

Emergency responders in Gilmer and Fannin counties said they've responded to too many accidents to count.

"It's pretty and stuff, but it's just slick," said Blue Ridge resident Joyce Ross.

She lives in Blue Ridge, where she says they were expecting snow -- just not as early as it came.

"If you don't need to get out or whatever, I would stay at home if you could," Ross said.

"As it gets dark, the temperatures will start dropping and it'll get a lot colder, and all this that's on the ground is (going to) be ice," added Ross.

Shortly after noon, viewers began sending pictures of what appeared to be a mix of rain, sleet and snow falling in Blairsville, Blue Ridge and other nearby areas.

Meteorologist Brad Nitz said the winter advisory for the mountain counties has been extended to Sunday at 10 a.m. Metro Atlanta, meanwhile, is dealing with wind gusts and heavy rain.

"I expect in metro Atlanta, any precipitation we get will come down as liquid, as rain," said Nitz.

Public safety officials urge drivers to stay off the roads as conditions will worsen overnight.

"My concern tonight and into tomorrow morning is icy roads and even areas of black ice," added Nitz.

He said the messy conditions won't last all day, noting the sun will return on Sunday, when temperatures will peak at 53 degrees.

Severe Weather Team 2 said this February is supposed to bring above-average temperatures to the area.

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WSBTV