Ice storm over, weather service says

The icy precipitation weighing down power lines and forcing cities to open warming centers has essentially ended in areas from Cape Girardeau and Scott City to the north and west, a National Weather Service forecaster said this morning.

While a Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for the area until 12 p.m., any lingering precipitation will be in the form of very light freezing drizzle or snow, said Kevin Smith with the weather service office in Paducah, Ky.

"There will be nothing like what you had to deal with yesterday and overnight," Smith said. "The majority of it is moving out as we speak."

While the snow and ice have stopped falling, heavy low clouds will continue over the entire region, preventing any solar energy from melting the accumulated ice that continued to bring down tree limbs and power lines in the mid-morning hours.

And overnight temperatures will make life difficult for the thousands without power across the region. According to reports on the weather service Web site, about half of Bollinger County was without power at 6 a.m., multiple trees and power lines were down in Anna, Ill., and an inch of ice or more was reported in a wide swath across the region.

The temperatures tonight are expected to fall into the single digits in northern counties such as Perry County, with mid- to lower teens in the Cape Girardeau-Jackson area.

Clearing skies on Wednesday will provide some thawing, as will temperatures expected to rise into the mid-40s on Thursday.

Two more weather systems, however, threaten to bring a return of snow and ice to the region on Friday into Saturday and again on Sunday into Monday.

"I don't think we are going to be looking at the same exact event we just experienced," Smith said. "At this point in time the things are still evolving."

The bulk of the first system should remain south of the area, he said. The system being watched for precipitation Sunday has a better chance of returning ice and snow to the area, but he said it is too early to predict exactly how much and whether temperatures will be right for ice and snow.

The thaw later in the week could fill area streams and cause minor flooding, Smith said.

For updates, check back at www.semissourian.com or read Wednesday's Southeast Missourian.