Growing up in Middle Tennessee, it seemed like it snowed once every five years. We longed for a snowfall that would get us out school.Every morning we’d listen to Bill Hall and Snowbird read through all the counties that were out that day… Pickett… Putnam… Robertson… please say Sumner…please say Sumner…. TROUSDALE?!?! COME ON!
So why now does it seem like snows five times every year?!?What happened?
Since this is our new norm in Nashville, here’s some risks to be aware of when the cold comes:
Risk Number 1: Bad Drivers
Tennessee is made up three kinds of drivers: locals who don’t have much experience driving in snow, Californians who have never seen snow, and northerners who like to show off their snow driving skills. Those area dangerous combination, especially when our problem is ice, not snow. Be careful on the roads. Drive slow and go with the flow.
Risk Number 2: Frozen Pipes
Water in pipes not well insulated can freeze, and when they do, they expand. Enough expansion and they can leak or bust causing significant water damage. Protect any unprotected plumbing (such as outdoor spigots) by providing some form of insulation around them. Also, your grandmother’s old trick of leaving a faucet dripping does actually help. The trick is you want the faucet that is dripping to be associated with the pipe that is exposed to the cold temps. To do this you have to know where the plumbing runs in the house and which ones might be the most vulnerable.
Risk Number 3: Ice Damming
When snow piles up on your roof the first part to melt will be the center, over the warmth of the home. The last part to melt will be the edges where the cold air under the eaves keep it frozen. When the middle melts and the edge doesn’t, the water has nowhere to go, and can start to work it’s way into the home. Homes in the northern part of the country are built with a barrier product under the roof (such as Ice and Water Shield) that helps prevent this risk. But because it’s less common in the south, most homes here don’t have it, especially if their roof is over 10 years old. There are not a lot of cheap or safe ways to stop this from happening, but here’s a good article:
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/roofing/21017660/how-to-get-rid-of-ice-dams
Risk Number 4: Trees Exploding
I originally wrote this article in 2023, but after the freeze of 2026, I had to come back and add this one… nobody saw that coming! So apparently, not only can branches fall off of trees due to the weight of ice, but with the right conditions, the moisture inside the tree can freeze causing the tree to basically explode. The risk is the same either way… what is that tree/limb/branch going to hit if this happens. Have your trees checked BEFORE winter. Have an arborist make any necessary corrections prior to the cold. Thankfully I did this exact thing in the fall of 2025 and when one of my trees exploded the main limb just grazed the side of my house Had I not trimmed it back, it would have fallen directly over my two-year-olds bedroom.
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