Winter Weather — Coffee, Tennessee

2024-01-19 · Coffee, Tennessee

Event narrative

Light freezing rain fell on top of already existing heavy snow which exacerbated slick and icy conditions. There was one indirect fatality in Coffee County when a 73-year-old man traveling failed to stay in his lane on Hoover Road. The vehicle traveled off the left-hand side of the roadway and collided with two wooden fence posts, which caused the vehicle to catch on fire and become engulfed in flames.

Wider weather episode

After a major winter storm impacted Middle Tennessee earlier in the week, a trailing weak system then brought another round of wintry weather to the area on January 18 and 19, 2024. Several days of sub-freezing temperatures finally warmed to just above freezing at the surface on January 18th while very cold temperatures remained aloft. This created a favorable profile for freezing rain or freezing drizzle. Despite this precipitation being light, it falling on existing snow cover made already icy conditions worse. Unfortunately, these icy and snowy conditions led to a vehicle crash and a fatality in Coffee County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1148559. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.