So far today's ice storm less severe than last week's

While Thursday's ice-slickened roads led to school cancellations and knocked out some people's power, many officials are considering the storm minimal in comparison to last week's walloping. And with a predicted high near 35 degrees, meteorologists are predicting little to no ice or snow accumulation Friday.

"Hopefully the temperature will go up enough in the morning to melt it off. Saturday looks good; that should melt the remainder," Dave Purdy, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service based in Paducah, Ky., said Thursday evening.

Crews pretreated streets Wednesday in preparation for the storm, and Cape Girardeau workers hit the roads at 4 a.m. Thursday, alternating between spreading salt and plowing. In Jackson, crews got to work at 5 a.m. cindering the roads and continued throughout the day.

One Cape Girardeau group worked from 7 a.m. to noon Thursday and again throughout the night from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., while another worked a 12-hour shift throughout the day Thursday.

Steve Cook, Cape Girardeau's assistant public works director, said the conditions are improved over last week because much of the sleet did not freeze to trees. Limbs weighed down from ice last week snapped onto power lines, leaving tens of thousands of people without power.

Thursday morning AmerenUE reported 125 customers in Cape Girardeau had lost power, but the electricity was quickly restored and as of 6 p.m., there were no Southeast Missouri AmerenUE homes without power.

There was no ice reported on trees in Bollinger County Thursday evening, where Leo McElrath, chief deputy for the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department, said it was raining and the temperature was 31 degrees.

"The main roads are just wet at this time," he said. "The secondary roads and outlining roads are still covered with ice."

He said no motor vehicle accidents had been reported.

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department had only gone on three runs as of 5 p.m., compared to the hundreds of calls they received last week.

"I'd say the preparation has been the same [as last week], it's just a different event," Cook said.