CULLMAN, Ala. (AP) -- Hundreds of people spent a freezing night trapped on Interstate 65 in Cullman County after snow caused a series of wrecks that snarled traffic for miles.

County emergency management director Phyllis Little says hundreds of cars and 18-wheelers were at a standstill on the highway early Friday.
She says I-65 northbound is backed up at least eight miles south of Lacon Mountain in Morgan County.

The backup began Thursday afternoon as a winter storm blanketed the area with as much as 4 inches of snow. Motorists posted on Facebook about being trapped for nine hours and more.

Little says 120 motorists made it to a shelter in Cullman, but many more couldn't.

Officials hope rising temperatures will thaw the snow and ice and get traffic moving sometime Friday.