Selma and Dallas County did not suffer any great damage from the weather system that pumped cold and wet air into the area, making conditions icy in the Black Belt.

“It was not as bad as the National Weather Service had predicted,” said Rhonda Abbott, interim director of the Dallas County Emergency Management Agency. “We are glad of that.”

A few sporadic power outages and frozen bridges were reported late Sunday night and early Monday morning. Road crews were called out in the county and the city to sand down bridges.

The greatest outage was a Charter cable that dipped to Ala. Hwy. 22, near the fire department at Valley Grande, causing authorities to route motorists from Ala. 22 to County Road 81.

Today, the National Weather Service at Birmingham has predicted hazardous traveling conditions early because of black ice conditions.

Black ice is water that freezes into ice on roadways. This ice is very hard to see on the darker roadway surfaces and can be extremely dangerous.

Some schools in the area have delayed openings to avoid the dangers of black ice.

Dallas County Schools will begin classes at 11 a.m., with buses beginning their routes at 10 a.m. Morgan Academy has also delayed the start of their day, with classes beginning at 10 a.m. Cathedral Christian has also delayed their start until 10 a.m.

Selma City Schools, Meadowview Christian and Ellwood Christian have each decided to begin classes at the normal time of 8 a.m.

Temperatures are not expected to go back above freezing until sometime between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. across Central Alabama, according to forecasters.

Forecasters also have predicted patchy fog before 8 a.m. today, otherwise cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny with a high near 43.

Very cold conditions are possible toward the end of the week. Temperatures could fall into the teens in the area for Thursday and Friday mornings.