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The winter storm, according to reports, arrived around 2 p.m, Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 25 and snowfall and sleet persisted until after 10 p.m. Emergency crews warned citizens to stay off the roads if possible.

predicted heavy snow for this area in the afternoon hours with temperatures remaining steady in the low to mid 30s, with winds light and variable. Chance of snow was 100 percent with snow accumulations of three to five inches expected.

Governor Robert Bentley on Tuesday declared a State of Emergency for all Alabama counties in preparation for winter weather that is expected to move through Alabama.

A Civil emergency message was released by the Emergency Management Agent limiting travel to emergencies only.

All Cherokee County roadways, according to the message, were deemed impassable with the exception of city streets. Centre Mayor Tony Willie declared the city streets to be impassable.

Reports indicated that a stretch of Alabama Highway 35, Highway 411 North and Cherokee County Road 19 were impassable with several cars and four wheelers stranded,

The area was virtually shut down some or all of Thursday with the following closings:

Cherokee County Schools, Centre City Hall, all Cherokee County Government Offices, American Apparel, The Cherokee County Child Development Center & Pre-K

, The Cherokee County Crisis Center, The CED Mental Health Center, Cherokee County DHR, ShepherdÐÔÊӽ紫ý Fold Daycare, The Buttram Senior Center in Centre, Little Red Apple Daycare, Learning Well Child Development Center, Gadsden State Community College.

The Arbor Day Tree Giveaway on the campus of Gadsden State Cherokee in Centre – originally scheduled for Thursday was moved to Friday, from noon until 2 p.m.

Mail delivery in Cherokee County was delayed Thursday. Mail clerks were told to report at 10 a.m. and carriers at 11 a.m. The Alabama Teachers Credit Union branches opened at 11 a.m.

Other closings included Piedmont City Schools, Attalla City Schools, Albertville City Schools, Anniston City Schools, Arab City Schools, Boaz City Schools, Calhoun County Schools, Cleburne County Schools, DeKalb County Schools, the Fort Payne City Schools, Fort Payne City Hall, DeKalb County Government Offices, including the County Commission Office and Courthouse, along with Cornerstone Christian Academy, 5 Etowah County Schools, Etowah County Judicial Building, Gadsden City Schools, Jacksonville City Schools, Westbrook Christian School, 12th Street Baptist, Rainbow City Pre-School, Polk County Schools, Northeast Alabama Community College, Floyd County Schools, Rome City Schools, The Darlington School, City of Summerville Offices, City of Trion Offices, Trion City Schools and Chattooga County Schools.

Reports indicated that the Cherokee County area received between six and eight inches of snow with some areas of Dekalb receiving up to a foot of snow. The city of Centre received seven and a half with Cedar Bluff receiving eight inches.

Cherokee County Engineer Corey Chambers reported that the Cherokee County

Highway ÐÔÊӽ紫ý worked throughout the day Thursday and that rew problems were reported as they scraped what ice and snow they could from local roadways.

By Thursday afternoon, conditions had vastly improved, however emergency responders urged travelers to remain cautious as some of the leftover snow and ice might re-freeze as temperatures onced again dropped below freezing over night.