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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher 

With Winter Storm Heather currently hitting portions of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri, Alabama is next in its path, which has led to a Winter Weather Advisory for Shelby County.

The Winter Weather Advisory includes many counties surrounding the Birmingham-metro area, while counties further north are under a Winter Storm Warning.

The main impact for Shelby County is expected to come in the form of a wintry mix that includes sleet and freezing rain and a small possibility of snow.

With temperatures expected to dip below freezing around 10 p.m. on Monday night a high of 28 degrees on Tuesday, the Winter Weather Advisory is in effect from 6 a.m. Monday to 9 a.m. Tuesday in Shelby County.

The cold temperatures combined with the possibility of a wintry precipitation could lead to travel issues Monday night and throughout the day Tuesday.

The National Weather Service out of Birmingham, based in Calera, said the biggest concern locally will be for freezing rain, which can cause quick travel issues and power outages depending on the amount.

As with any winter weather in Alabama, the NWS also said to be prepared for rapid changes to the forecast as one of the more challenging things to predict in forecasting.

Currently, the expected time frame for winter weather is expected to be between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. for the far northern portion of Shelby County and midnight until 9 a.m. Tuesday for the majority of the county.

The Alabama Department of Transportation has started pretreating some roadways across Shelby County, including U.S. 280.

Some cities and the county will plan to pretreat with sand if the forecast continues to show signs of icy conditions with Helena already set to sand their roads as a precautionary measure.

Local schools are closed on Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, but are expected to be back in session on Tuesday after they were closed on Friday as well for E-learning due to severe weather.

For the latest on the weather and any possible school closures, make sure to follow Shelbycountyreporter.com and the Shelby County Reporter Facebook page.