Winter’s final grasp at Vicksburg and Warren County was fading from view Friday morning.

Schools and city and county offices opened as scheduled and roads were mostly clear. Leftover ice was expected to melt by afternoon.

“All the roads and bridges seem to be OK, there may be a spot of black ice here and there,” Warren County Emergency Manager John Elfer said Friday.

A total of 23 wrecks — mostly along Interstate 20 — were reported during the winter storm, down from the 41 wrecks reported during a 17-hour period in a bout of wintry weather in late February.

A jackknifed 18-wheeler delayed traffic on the interstate for hours.

Elfer said he credited drivers with heeding caution to stay off the roadways with the decreased number of crashes.

“I think that’s why we succeeded,” he said.

City officials dumped 250 yards of sand and 2,500 pounds of salt on city bridges and overpasses, Streets Department Superintendent Skipper Whittington said.

In the county, crews were busy sanding roads and cleaning up debris from fallen trees. Downed trees did not cause any major traffic delays, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

“County road crews were there to clear trees as they fell,” he said.

At the height of the ice storm, 880 local Entergy customers were without power. By 7:30 a.m. Friday, power had been restored to all but eight customers. Those households were at Halls Ferry Road near Bernard Drive and in the Openwood Plantation Subdivision.

During the course of the winter storm, Vicksburg Water Treatment Plant on Haining Road reported .91inches of freezing precipitation.

The National Weather Service called for a high of 47 Friday, meaning leftover ice should begin to melt from shady area and less-traveled roads. A low of 23 is expected overnight.

Precipitation will be out of the picture until Sunday, when the weather service is calling for a 40 percent chance of rain. A moderate chance of rain continues through Tuesday.