AREA BRACED FOR SNOW THAT HIT DURING NIGHT; WEATHER SERVICE SAYS UP TO 6 INCHES MAY FALL

After getting "burned" by a surprise 12-inch snowstorm last week, Cape Girardeau area residents were taking no chances Wednesday after the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning throughout Southeast Missouri.

The warning was in effect for Wednesday night and today.

The expected snowstorm comes 14 years to the day - Feb. 25, 1979 - of a monster storm that buried Cape Girardeau and parts of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois under 24 inches of heavy, wet snow. In that storm, Missouri national guardsmen operating bulldozers, front-end loaders and road graders were dispatched by the governor to clear the highways and streets to restore emergency services.

Wednesday, local food stores reported "panic" food-buying began as early as 7 a.m. after area radio stations broadcast reports that snow depths of 15-20 inches might occur in some areas. However, the National Weather Service in St. Louis said late Wednesday that it had never predicted that much snow from the approaching storm, and it did not know where those stations got their reports.

The most snow was expected in Central Missouri, where depths of 6 to 12 inches were predicted; Southeast Missouri was expected to get 3 to 6 inches with sleet and freezing rain mixed, the weather service said.

John Hostetler, supermarket manager at Schnuck's Food Store, said the sudden rush of customers was so heavy he had to call in off-duty checkers. "They were buying milk, bread, meat, all the usual staples that people buy when a storm threatens," Hostetler said.

"From what several customers told me, the radio stations were telling people to get out now and get their groceries before the snow comes."

Hostetler said the store had some problems keeping bread shelves stocked. "Wednesday is a `drop day' for the bread companies, so we really had to scramble to locate extra supplies of bread to meet the demand," he explained.

Hostetler said the store did receive an extra shipment of rock salt from St. Louis after last week's storm depleted its supply.

A spokesman at Del Farm said traffic in the store became heavy shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday. By noon, the store had only a few bags of snow-melting chemicals on hand.

Most hardware stores and discount stores contacted by the Missourian reported a heavy demand for snow shovels. Unfortunately, few were available after last week's storm.

"We must have had 20,000 phone calls this morning, and every other caller wanted to know if we had any snow shovels left," a spokesperson for Central Hardware said. "We don't have many left, and by tonight we'll be out." She said the store also has been selling a lot of bagged sand.

John Sanders of Sanders Hardware in the Town Plaza Shopping Center says he sold out of snow shovels last week. "I still have some Ice-Melt, and we've also been selling some grain bin scoop shovels and dirt shovels.

"If they were still making the old-fashioned coal bin shovels that were used to use to shovel coal in the stoker or furnace, they would be great for the snow," he added.

John McClain, manager of the Cape Girardeau K-Mart store, says the store's last remaining stock of snow shovels was sold last week. "We're also all out of rock salt and Snow-Melt," he added.

Most of the stores contacted said it was too late in the season to try to restock snow shovels and snow removal supplies after last week's storm. "If we tried to get more stock now, we'd be stuck with the inventory until next winter," McClain said.

"Right now, we're trying to get ready for spring. We had several trailer-loads of spring garden supplies arrive last week during the snowstorm, and we've got three more trailer-loads scheduled to arrive Thursday (today)."

Cape Girardeau Public Works Director Doug Leslie said his snow removal crews are ready to go. "We've made repairs to our equipment from last week's snowstorm. We've got all of our supplies in order.

"We've contacted private contractors in case we need additional equipment to clear the streets if the snow becomes heavy," Leslie said. "We've hauled in some extra sand to our mixing area along South Main."

Leslie said the street crews worked a regular schedule on Wednesday. "If it becomes necessary, we can switch over to our 12-hour snow schedule like we did last week."

Heavy snow warnings were in effect late Wednesday afternoon for western and central Missouri. The National Weather Service said the precipitation in the Cape Girardeau area would likely begin around midnight with a mixture of freezing rain and sleet, changing over to snow by early this morning.

Accumulations of as much as 6-12 inches were forecast today across east central Missouri into the metro St. Louis area. Highs today are expected to remain in the 20s, so whatever snow falls is expected to be around for awhile.

Up to four inches of snow were forecast today in northeastern Arkansas and the Missouri Bootheel.