Snow expected on top of ice

Cape Girardeau residents will likely wake up this morning to "right at" 6 inches of snow, and that may be conservative, according to Dan Spaeth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky. The white stuff is expected to fall on top of a layer of a freezing rain-sleet combination, he said.

"We're going to see a whole lot of precipitation yet for the rest of the night, and maybe even a little past daybreak tomorrow," Spaeth said Sunday evening.

The low Sunday night was forecast for 7 degrees with a high of 20 today.

"Most of the area is seeing sleet. You could see a half inch or inch of sleet with several inches of snow on top of that primarily late this evening and overnight," Spaeth said.

Asked which areas would be hit hardest, Spaeth said most of Southeast Missouri from around Highway 60 north will be seeing "quite a bit of snow." South of Highway 60, more sleet and "maybe a little more freezing rain" is expected.

"They may only get two to three inches down there," Spaeth said, while the area from the Arkansas border, the Bootheel and up near Marble Hill, Mo., and Perryville, Mo., will be on the "high end" of 4 to 8 inches.

Cape Girardeau County Emergency Management director Dick Knaup said at 6 p.m. Sunday he was out driving the roads and they "are extremely hazardous."

The county emergency management agency issued an advisory early Monday morning that all county government offices in Cape Girardeau and Jackson will be closed today, including the Circuite Court offices.

The agency also issued an advisory Sunday evening that the Cape Girardeau County Commission meeting scheduled for this morning has been canceled.

Also, the Cape County Health Center, 1121 Linden St., in Cape Girardeau will open at 10 a.m. today.

Scott County Emergency Management director Tom Beardslee said the courthouse buildings in Benton will be closed Today. He said he knew of six minor accidents with no injuries, no power outages and no property damage "that we're aware of."

Missouri Department of Transportation crews continued to work to get roads in shape before another band of winter weather rolls through the region, MoDOT district engineer Mark Shelton said Sunday afternoon.

Although it was calmer Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service website showed a carport was destroyed at 275 Bradford Lane in Oak Ridge. The carport was pulled out of the ground and moved about 30 feet, where it stopped against another building.

MoDOT on Saturday issued a "no travel advisory" through Sunday. Missouri State Highway Patrol public information officer Clark Parrott said he can't stress enough that if people don't need to be out, they should stay home.

From noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Parrott said there were 26 accidents with one injury reported. Earlier Sunday, he said the highway patrol had worked numerous slide-offs. He reported earlier that a highway patrol car was hit on Interstate 55 in the Miner, Mo., area. The driver of the car that hit the cruiser had a minor injury, he said.

Shelton said Sunday afternoon that roads were mostly sleet-covered.

"They're just not in good shape," he said. "The guys have made some progress kind of peeling them down. Some still ... have some sleet pack on top of them."

Shelton said crews will continue to work the roads as they brace for the next round of weather coming through.

"We'll just have to watch and see what it does," he said. He added crews have been able to go through the roads at least once and MoDOT is focusing on interstates and higher-traffic roads.

No pretreatment was done this time because of the forecast for "lots of rain" and warm weather leading up to the storm, Shelton said.

"In our area, we were fortunate that it ... switched over from the rain. ... It went into sleet pretty quickly," Shelton said. "We didn't deal with very much freezing rain," which he said is more difficult to deal with because it freezes instantly. With sleet, you get pellets and crews can work with that, he said.

He said crews would work all night Sunday and all day today, he said.

"And ... hopefully by then we'll be in good enough shape where we won't have to have crews out again tomorrow [Monday] night," Shelton said. "It's supposed to get down in the single digits both tonight and tomorrow night. We're concerned about that -- how that extreme cold ... affects the equipment [and] the people that are out working in it. It just makes it even more difficult to clean up."

Closings, cancellations

Cape Girardeau and Jackson public schools will be closed today and Southeast Missouri State University announced the main campus, regional campuses in Sikeston, Malden and Kennett, and the Perryville Higher Education Center will be closed because of the weather.

However, the University Center will open at 9:30 a.m. today and will remain open through dinner service in the evening; the Student Recreation Center-North will be open from 5:30 a.m. to midnight Today and Kent Library will be open from 10 a.m. to midnight, according to a university news release.

In an email Sunday night, Saint Francis Medical Center said Cape Physician Associates, Cape ENT, Cape Care for Women and Cape Diabetes and Endocrinology, Cape Perinatology Services, Cape Gastroenterology Specialists and Cape Thoracic and Cardiovascular Services in Cape Girardeau, and Charleston Family Care in Charleston, Mo., will be closed today.

Patients should call the Consumer Call Center at 331-3996 with questions.

In an email Sunday, the city of Cape Girardeau said city hall, the Shawnee Center, the Osage Centre and the Arena Building will open at 10 a.m. today.

The 6 a.m. Cape Air flight at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport has been canceled.

The John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo., will be open, but VA clinics in Cape Girardeau and Sikeston, Mo., among others will be closed.

As of Sunday evening, the Ameren Missouri website showed no power outages in the Cape Girardeau area.

According to the National Weather Service website, an estimated 0.20 of an inch of sleet and freezing rain had fallen Sunday morning.

The Dorena-Hickman Ferry was closed Sunday because of icy conditions on the landing ramps and barge, said a news release from Keith Todd, public information officer for District 1 and 2, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Capt. Ed Floyd said in the release he would evaluate conditions on a day-to-day basis to determine when it's safe to resume operations.

The Dorena-Hickman Ferry connects KY 1354 at Hickman, Ky., with Missouri Route A and Highway 77 near Dorena, Mo.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639