COCKE COUNTY, Tenn. — A few schools were closed, delayed or dismissing early Tuesday due to extreme weather conditions in the upper elevations of East Tennessee.
Cocke County Schools, Claiborne County Schools, McMinn County Schools, Newport Grammar, and Greeneville City Schools announced they will be closed on Tuesday. Sevier County Schools said it will be on a 2-hour delay, and Jefferson County Schools said it will be on a 1-hour delay.
Knox County Schools, Blount County Schools, Scott County and Oneida Schools said Tuesday it would be dismissing early due to weather.
Around 12:15 p.m., KCS announced elementary schools would dismiss at 1 p.m. and middle and high schools would dismiss at 1:30 p.m.
KCS Spokesperson Carly Harrington said the school system received a National Weather Service update around 11:30 a.m. and Superintendent Jon Rysewyk immediately gathered his team to discuss and make the decision to dismiss early.
Blount County Schools said it's dismissing elementary schools at 1:45 p.m. and middle and high schools at 2:45 p.m.
"Due to an abundance of caution, schools will be dismissing early today. The first buses will leave Scott High at 1:00 p.m. today," Scott County Schools said.
Etowah Schools will be closed. Hancock County Schools also said it would open 2 hours late, along with Rogersville City Schools and Hawkins County Schools. Morgan County Schools will also be closed on Tuesday, along with Morgan County Head Start.
Tri-State Christian Academy will be closed and so will Heritage Christian Academy. Hamblen County Schools will open an hour late.
A weather system moving through East Tennessee brought strong, gusty winds and heavy rains, which is expected to last through Wednesday morning.
The system has the potential to knock down trees and powerlines in the higher elevations of the county, according to the EMA and the National Weather Service in Morristown.
"For context, there is medium to high confidence this will be the strongest mountain wave event in over a decade or possibly longer. Potential isolated gusts in excess of 90 mph in prone locations such as Cove Mountain or Camp Creek would be equal to a high end Category 1 / low end Category 2 Hurricane or EF1 tornado," the EMA shared from the NWS.
Winds are expected to be gusty in the foothills as well, and heavy rainfall could lead to some localized flooding in areas that are prone to flood.