Area braces for first significant snow fall

The first significant snowfall of the season is forecast to hit this area tonight into Thursday morning.

About 3 inches of snow is expected, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

Area residents woke up to a dusting of snow Tuesday morning.

But a winter storm moving out of Texas could result in heavier precipitation as early as this afternoon, said meteorologist Kevin Smith with the NWS office in Paducah, Kentucky.

Southeast Missouri initially could see rain before changing to snow, he said Tuesday. While 3 inches of snow is expected, Smith said, �it could be more than that. It could be less.�

Little ice is predicted.

The storm is expected to exit the area Thursday morning. Still, the storm could make for a challenging morning commute, Smith said.

Highs are expected in the upper 30s, but temperatures will drop quickly tonight, Smith said. The most intensive storm activity is expected this evening, he said.

Low temperatures will prevail again Thursday, Smith said.

He advised motorists to prepare in advance for the storm.

Public works crews in Cape Girardeau and Jackson have geared up for the winter weather.

Kent Peetz, Jackson public works director, said, �We started getting our trucks ready last week.�

He added, �Basically, we are ready. We have the spreaders and plows on.�

Both Jackson and Cape Girardeau crews typically pretreat streets with a brine solution. But Peetz said his crews can�t pretreat the roads if rain is in the forecast.

Andrew Stone, traffic operations manager with Cape Girardeau�s public works department, said little rain is expected with this storm.

Cape Girardeau crews plan to pretreat streets today.

�We are trying to be as prepared as possible,� he said.

Stone said, if the storm hits as forecast, crews will be out clearing roads Wednesday night.

�We will be out salting or plowing or both once it (snow) begins to stick,� he said.

Jackson crews will be taking similar actions.

Both Stone and Peetz advised motorists to �slow down� when driving on snowy streets.

Even as the winter storm approaches, the Weather Service said better weather is headed our way.

A warming trend is forecast for the weekend with temperatures reaching in the mid 40s to around 50 degrees.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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