Winter Storm Leon: When Will Roads Thaw Out?

<weather undergroundp>Winter Storm Leon delivered a long swath of snow and ice from parts of Texas to the coastal Southeast, coastal Mid-Atlantic and Northeast early Tuesday morning into Wednesday.

If you're stuck at home, or away from home, due to ice-packed, untreated roads, there's one question you'd like to know above all others: When will temperatures rise above freezing to begin melting the accumulated mess?

While some melting and drying did occur on roads Wednesday, it appears that the melting will accelerate as we close out the week.

After waking up to temperatures well below freezing Thursday, highs should rise into the 40s over much of Alabama, north Georgia, and South Carolina including Atlanta and Charleston, S.C., allowing some significant melting to begin by late morning or early afternoon in these areas.

Highs Thursday along the Gulf Coast should make it into at least the low 50s, helping to put an end to the icy misery there.

Once again, however, low temperatures early Friday morning will bottom out in the 20s from the Carolinas to the Deep South, meaning there may be some refreezing of untreated roads and bridges where lingering meltwater was left standing by Thursday's warmth.

, however, should bring widespread highs in the 50s in the Carolinas, north Georgia and Alabama, with 60s along the northern Gulf Coast. With lows Saturday morning forecast to remain primarily above freezing, Friday should spell the end of this long, aggravating snow and ice jam for parts of the Southeast.

MORE: Winter Storm Leon Photos