Ice remaining on the roads Thursday night won’t be going anywhere fast.

According to Road Superintendent Levie Glenn, there’s not much the Highway Department can do to battle icy roads when temperatures plummet.

“Salt won’t work under 16 to 18 degrees,” said Glenn. “The temperature dropping the way it has makes it difficult for us to use salt. With the ice that’s on the roads and the temperature supposed to get down to 8 or 10 degrees, it’s going to make tonight a hazardous night,” Glenn said Thursday afternoon.

County Highway Department workers began clearing roads Wednesday at midnight. Glenn says areas of the county received anywhere from a half inch to 2 inches of ice.

“I’d much rather be dealing with snow,” said Glenn. “You can’t do anything with ice when it gets cold like this. You can’t start to plow it until it turns to slush. There’s no use plowing it when it’s like this.”

According to the Accu-Weather forecast Thursday afternoon, temperatures for McMinnville are expected to approach single digits Thursday night. It is predicted to get warmer over the weekend with the forecast calling for 49 degrees Saturday and 53 degrees Sunday.

“Stay off the roads if you don’t have to be out,” said Glenn. “And if you do have to be out, drive slowly.”