Children’s wishes for a white Christmas came 28 days late when Winter Storm Enzo blasted through southeast Georgia coating the area with sleet and snow.
Snow flurries began around 6 p.m., Tuesday, January 21 and lasted through the early morning hours of Wednesday, January 22.
The plunge of Arctic air into the deep south brought rare snow and ice to the southeast dropping temperatures into the 20s and the windchill into the low teens.
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported a low of 27 in Brunswick for the two-day period of Wednesday and Thursday. Waycross was next at 28.
“When I was coming in this morning crossing the county line you could still see some snow,” County Manager Joey Cason said Monday, January 27. “We got a lot of sleet early and then the snow layered on top. The result was a thick layer of ice on the roadways.”
The NWS’s official measured mark for snow listed Hoboken with 3.8 inches. Blackshear measured at 3.2 inches while northwest Waycross had 4.5 inches, the same as Douglas. Alma’s measurement was 5 inches.
Before the winter storm, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency, prepping state emergency personnel and placing them on standby to help with any problems that arose during the predicted snowfall.
Brantley County also began preparations, according to Cason.
“We loaded some trucks with sand and put the vehicles inside a building to keep the sand dry,” said Cason. “We wanted to make sure Hwys. 301 and 82 were driveable. Thursday we took the road graders and scraped the snow and ice off about six or seven roads that are heavily traveled.”
Cason said he learned a few things about road conditions while serving as the county manager in White County.
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Brantley County’s youth enjoyed playing in the snow and making snowmen with school not in session after Winter Storm Enzo dropped several “It snows every year up there,” he said. “They have blades to hook up to trucks to be able to scrape the roads and salt to cover.”
The Brantley County Courthouse (top photo) and Nahunta’s City Hall (bottom photo) were covered Wednesday morning, January 22 with snow from Winter Storm Enzo. All government offices were closed as well as many businesses and the school system. Photos By WAYNE MORGAN
That could change in Brantley County, which had not seen snow since January 2018. A storm debrief meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 30 with department heads for concerns and improvement.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have blades or material to maintain the roads here,” said Cason. “I would like to look into the future of possibly buying a blade for a truck to scrape. Another item would be a spraying system on the back of a water truck.”
Even with deteriorating road conditions, the county manager said EMS responded to several calls, the Brantley County Sheriff’s Office patrolled the roads, and the volunteer fire department responded to a structure fire.
The icy conditions, however, prompted Brantley County to enact a curfew at dark in an effort to keep drivers off the roads. The decision followed one issued by Glynn County.
Sheriff Len Davis said there were very few incidents as residents heeded the curfew.
“We had one wreck,” the sheriff said. “Most of the calls were about vehicles sliding into ditches. Those were very minimum because there were not a lot of people out traveling.”
Davis believes the dirt roads will turn nasty and be boggy once the snow and ice melts away.
Nahunta’s City Manager Tom Wirth said traffic really slowed down through the city. He added there was no loss of power.
“We did have generators ready,” said Wirth. “We’ve opened the storm drains to help with the water flow of the melting snow and ice.”
City workers are playing catch up. City Hall was closed Wednesday and Thursday reopening Friday, January 24.
The Brantley County School System cancelled classes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for students after road conditions proved to be unfit and unsafe for bus routes. The three-day “vacation” follows a five-day retreat because of Hurricane Helene’s destruction.
According to Superintendent Dr. Kim Morgan, officials are to gather this week to discuss the possibility of having to adjust the system’s calander for the remainder of the year.
Since late Tuesday night’s white out, southeast Georgia students have enjoyed the rare snowstorm, taking photos, building snowmen, engaging in snowball fights, and generally marveling at the winter wonderland the snowfall had created.
