For the third day in a row, Calhoun City and Gordon County Schools are closed Wednesday, Jan. 12.

However, Calhoun City School 12-month employees should report at 10 a.m.

The Gordon County Superior Court will also be closed again Wednesday, as well as the Gordon County Health Department.

According to the national weather service, it will be sunny tomorrow with a high of 30 degrees. The low tonight is 19 degrees.

The snow that began falling Sunday night left places in Gordon County blanketed under half a foot of snow.

The official inch-count for the county was between five-and-a-half inches to six inches of snow, according to Gordon County Emergency Management Agency Director Richard Cooper.

The white powder blanketed the roads, too, making driving conditions extremely hazardous. Both county and city school systems closed school Monday and Tuesday, along with many other counties throughout north Georgia.

The storm blanketed the state from Columbus to Macon with sleet and ice overnight, the National Weather Service said Monday.

Outgoing Gov. Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency, opening the door for the state to provide help for local governments, while incoming Gov. Nathan Deal moved his inauguration ceremony inside the state capital and canceled a gala celebration set for Monday night.

“If you don’t have to get out don’t,” Cooper advised residents Monday morning, adding that he expected the roads to worsen as more cars created slush, which often freezes and turns to ice, creating days of hazardous driving conditions.

And that ice could be here for a while, as Gordon County will not see temperatures above 40 F until Sunday, when temperatures are expected to climb to 45.

According to Cooper, the Georgia Department of Transportation salted major roads, bridges and state routes, however they are not equipped with enough salt mixture to coat every roadway in the county.

The DOT said Monday that its crews were working to keep interstates and state routes clear in 17 counties of Northwest Georgia that experienced snowfall.

About 600 North Georgia EMC customers experienced power outages in the wee hours of Monday morning, around 4 a.m., a press release from the corporation stated.

As of 9:30 a.m. Monday, power had been restored to almost all North Georgia EMC customers, however.

Crews worked throughout the day Monday to restore power to a few isolated pockets of residences with outages.

Tree branches cracking under the weight of ice could cause more outages, NGEMC officials said, but Cooper said Monday there were no downed trees so far.

"Extra crews are on ready to respond should storm conditions cause more power outages. Crews will remain on duty until all power has been restored and to work new outages that may occur if storms persist," according to the NGEMC release.

NGEMC urges extreme caution around fallen trees and power lines. Do not go near them, but report these immediately to NGEMC or local emergency authorities.

Customers without electricity are asked to call their local NGEMC office and use the automated telephone outage reporting system.