Another winter storm blankets much of Missouri with snow

ST. LOUIS -- The sleds, snow shovels and salt trucks were out again Thursday after another winter storm hit Missouri -- the third in about a month.

At least the timing was better. The snow came fast and furious late Wednesday and early Thursday, then stopped, giving crews ample opportunity to clear roadways and runways before the morning rush, and giving schools and employers plenty of time to tell students and workers to add an extra day to their New Year's vacations.

Still, several accidents were blamed on slick roads, including a fatal wreck near La Plata in northeast Missouri. Authorities said a Toyota driven by Dawn Byers-Ledbetter of La Plata, Mo., slid off of snow-covered Route 156 shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday. Neva Powell, 55, a friend of the driver, was ejected as the car overturned. Powell, of Kirksville, Mo., was killed.

The snowfall again led to messy conditions in St. Louis, also hit by winter storms on Dec. 4 and Christmas Eve. But drivers seemed to be handling it.

"I think people learned from the last time," said Jon Parrish, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. "A lot of people got an earlier start. People are just watching what they're doing."

St. Louis Lambert Airport spokesman Mike Donatt said things were running fairly smoothly at the airport as well. American Airlines offered passengers traveling to or from St. Louis the option of delaying travel for a day, at no additional penalty fee.

The latest storm hit hardest in the central and northeastern parts of Missouri, and missed some areas all together. Columbia got 6 inches of snow. Heavy accumulation was also reported in Jefferson City and at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Hannibal received 6 inches of snow, while nearby Palmyra got 7 inches. St. Louis had 5 inches of accumulation.

But western and southern portions of the state were virtually unscathed. Springfield had 1 inch on the ground, though icy roads in southwest Missouri were blamed for several wrecks. Kansas City received no snow, and Cape Girardeau received very little.

Missouri typically gets just under 20 inches of snow per year. Parts of the state have already topped that, and winter has just begun.

Unpredictable weather

Adding to Missouri's reputation for weather unpredictability, the spells between snow storms have tended to be warm. Six days after the Christmas Eve storm, temperatures reached 69 degrees in St. Louis. Less than three days later, it was snowing again.

Unusual?

"Not in the St. Louis area -- it's not unusual at all," said Butch Dye of the National Weather Service office in St. Charles County. "We're at a confluence where the slightest movement any way can lead to a drastic change. It's just a fine line in the way the weather can change."

Weather Service meteorologist Joe Pedigo said the variability of Missouri's weather results from the state's central location.

'You never know'

"The warm air is always rising from the Gulf and interacting with the cold air from the north and the dry air from the southwest," Pedigo said. "The main problem we have in forecasting the weather in St. Louis in the winter time is you never know if it will be rain or freezing rain or snow."

While the snow has kept road crews busy, it hasn't depleted the state's supplies of salt and sand, Missouri Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Jackson said.

"Supplies are fine," he said. "The storms are spreading out just enough that we can get replenished before the next one."

MoDOT may need to replenish quickly this time. While dry weather was forecast for Friday and Saturday, Pedigo said another round of snow could arrive Sunday night.

In Illinois, Mother Nature went to work as soon as the holidays ended, blowing in a winter storm Thursday that dumped as much as 9 inches of snow across parts of the state.

West-central Illinois took the brunt of the storm, which crossed over the Mississippi River early Thursday.

More than 7 inches of wet snow greeted morning commuters in Quincy, and about 9 inches fell in nearby Brooklyn.

By mid-afternoon, the snow cover that had melted off last weekend was back across most of the state.

Amounts varied widely, and a difference of 20 or 30 miles could mean several inches difference in accumulation.

Peoria and Bloomington had logged just an inch or two Thursday afternoon, while nearby Lewiston and Havana were shoveling out from 6 inches or more, according to the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

Friday's forecast calls for sunshine and temperatures in the low 30s, rising to the high 30s Saturday. The weekend also could bring rain or snow, but no measurable precipitation is expected, according to the weather service.