Multiple school districts in the area are closing on Wednesday, in anticipation of strong storms and the possibility of dangerous weather conditions.
Hamilton County is among the school districts that will not have school on Wednesday.
Other school districts that will be closed are: Athens City Schools, Bledsoe County, Bradley County, Catoosa County, Chickamauga City Schools, Cleveland City Schools, Dade County, Dayton City Schools, Grundy County, Marion County, McMinn County, Meigs County, Polk County, Rhea County, Sequatchie County, and Walker County.
Baylor, Boyd-Buchanan, Brainerd Baptist, Bachman Academy, Belvoir Christian Academy, Bright School, Calvary Christian, Chattanooga Charter School, Chattanooga Christian, Chattanooga Girls Academy, Cleveland Christian, Collegedale Academy, Dayton City, Girls Preparatory School, Grace Baptist Academy, McCallie, Notre Dame, OLPH, Orange Grove, St. Peters, St. Jude, Richard Hardy Silverdale Baptist Academy, and Skyuka Hall will also be closed.
UTC, Chattanooga State's main, north and west campus along with Cleveland state will not be in session.
Whitfield County Schools will begin the day on scheduled, then be dismissed early. Elementary school students will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. Middle and high school students will be dismissed at 12:30 p.m.
Georgia Northwestern Technical College will close all campuses at 2 p.m. on Wednesday due to the threat of severe weather. All evening classes and activities have been canceled.
Covenant College closed at 1 p.m.
Due to the cancellation of schools Wednesday, the Ooltewah High School STEM Night will be rescheduled for next Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The National Weather Service says "A significant outbreak of severe weather is expected on Wednesday as a strong cold front sweeps into the region from the west. In particular, there is an enhanced risk for thunderstorms capable of producing damaging straight-line winds during the afternoon and early evening across the entire area.
Additionally, these storms will be capable of producing large hail and potentially a few tornadoes. The main timeframe for severe weather will occur from roughly noon to 8 pm ET on Wednesday.
Strong southerly winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph will be possible across the Southern Appalachians and East Tennessee Valley on Wednesday. Strong winds will remain possible in the higher terrain of the Southern Appalachian Mountains through Thursday Morning.
Some of the greatest threats for our area are damaging winds possibly as strong as 70-80 miles per hour, golf-ball size hail, localized flash flooding, and possible trees and power lines down.
The weather system is expected to be a quick moving system and is predicted to move through Hamilton County sometime Wednesday afternoon.