Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud issued this press release just after 11:15 a.m. today, suggesting all county residents reduce traffic as much as possible due to icy conditions and the  third inbound ice storm in three days.

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Green County Highway and Township personnel have been hard at work since the early morning hours spreading salt in an attempt to keep roads safe and passable.  Despite those efforts, freezing rain continues to fall and travel on most roadways is treacherous. Some roads in the more rural areas of the county are totally covered with ice and are impassable. There have been dozens of slide offs as well as vehicles stuck in the traveled portions of the roadways until salt crews have arrived to treat the pavement.

Temperatures are expected to drop throughout the remainder of the day and freezing rain is forecasted to fall throughout the late afternoon into the early evening hours. Conditions are expected to deteriorate throughout the remainder of the day.  Power outages have been reported as nearby as Platteville and cannot be ruled out locally as ice accumulates on trees and power lines.

Travel is strongly discouraged until conditions improve, which is not likely until late tonight or tomorrow morning and some areas may not react to salt due to temperatures expected to drop below zero during the early morning hours. Law Enforcement, EMS, Fire or salt trucks will be delayed in responding to any emergencies due to ice covered roadways.

The best way to keep you, your family and emergency personnel safe for the remainder of this storm is to stay home!

- Sheriff Jeff Skatrud

The Lafayette County Sheriff's Office also urged caution at roughly 9 a.m. in a message on its Facebook page. The announcement advised residents not to travel, especially on secondary roads and noted the limitations of both city and highway crews attempting to deal with the icy road conditions. "Only travel if a must," the statement reads.