The courthouse and county government offices were closed Thursday.

So were several restaurants and Warren County Schools. McMinnville City Hall and Milner Recreation Center both closed at noon.

Thursday was a bad day for travel around Warren County and throughout Tennessee.

Motorists were sliding off roads, getting stuck in ditches, and in some cases overturning.

Emergency responders were kept busy. According to E-911 director Chuck Haston, there had been 16 crashes in Warren County as of Thursday at 4 p.m., including two with injuries.

There was a collision involving two vehicles in front of the Exxon station in Morrison on Manchester Highway. Serious injury was avoided but both vehicles suffered damage.

A car was on its side after running off the road on Smithville Highway on Thursday. There were also accidents on Crisp Springs Road and Shelbyville Road.

“If you have to be out, don’t drive too fast,” said Road Superintendent Levie Glenn. “We’re doing what we can and salting and plowing the main roads but there will be some side roads we can’t get to so it’s best to stay in if you can.”

Nashville Highway was temporarily closed Thursday morning in Cannon County at the top of Woodbury hill when a tractor trailer and car ran off the side of the road. The road was closed to clear the vehicles and the highway was reopened.

Glenn noted that salting roads is only effective if temperatures are above 15 degrees. He said overnight temperatures Thursday night were predicted to drop to single digits.

“When it gets that cold, the salt won’t do any good,” said Glenn. “It’s not supposed to warm up too much on Friday so it will probably be Saturday before we see much improvement.”