COLD WEATHER LIKELY TO CONTINUE TODAY

Chris McGowan scraped the ice covering his quarter-mile long driveway Sunday afternoon on Lakewood Drive in Cape Girardeau.

The worst of the season's first round of ice and snow passed through the region on Saturday, followed on Sunday by blustery winds and bitterly cold temperatures that dipped at times into the single digits. It left no doubt in people's minds: winter is here.

With temperatures in Southeast Missouri on Sunday staying mainly in the teens and winds out of the west blowing up to 20 miles per hour, the wind chill index dropped below zero at times. The lowest wind chill reading of the day was minus eight degrees at 11 a.m.

Meteorologist Ryan Presley of the National Weather Service in Paducah said that the cold air experienced in the area over the weekend is likely to continue today, even though the winds may not be blowing quite so hard.

Temperatures are likely to reach a high of 20 today, with winds out of the northwest at 10-15 mph.

"That will give us wind chill factors of around zero and as low as minus five," Presley said. "So the message is, if you don't have to be outside, don't be."

Although the weather service does not anticipate any significant precipitation this week, there is still the possibility of periodic snow showers and flurries, with the most significant chance coming Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

"The major concern is the cold weather, with the wind chill index being dangerously cold," Presley said.

By midweek, the extremely frigid wind chill should subside, he said.

Presley, who worked long hours over the weekend as the first winter storm approached, said that the most difficult time for forecasters came Friday when it was still uncertain how the major storm system would affect the area.

"It was a nightmare trying to pinpoint what would happen, how much would fall and where it would fall," he said.

Part of the difficulty was that the storm was coming out of the northwest and the present computer models used by the National Weather Service don't handle northwest flow well. Presley calls it "tricky to forecast."

What did come in Southeast Missouri was a "tremendous coating of ice," what Presley called "one of the worst in the area in some time." Some areas were more affected by the ice than others.

Jack Lakenan, the Emergency Management Director for Perry County, said that on Saturday afternoon things were looking bad in the county.

"The ice storm hit, people were without power and began calling the sheriff's department wondering if there would be a shelter," Lakenan said.

Of most immediate concern was a nursing home that reported it was without power and water. Lakenan contacted the Southeast Missouri Chapter of the American Red Cross about setting up a shelter.

"Things were looking bleak," he said. "Temperatures were falling, power was out, people were calling in."

The Red Cross set up a shelter in a sideroom of the American Legion building in Perryville. But by the time nightfall arrived, power had been restored to most areas in the county and no one needed to take advantage of the shelter.

"When the power is off and the temperature drops and stays there, we want to have something open and available," said Mary Burton, executive director of the Red Cross of the 18 counties in Southeast Missouri.

"It doesn't mean that people are going to come to the shelters," she said.

The Red Cross also set up shelters in Bollinger and Wayne counties after officials told them of power outages. In Bollinger County power was out in some places for nearly 19 hours.

Burton said plans were also underway on Saturday to set up emergency shelters in Cape Girardeau County if the need arose. She said she was in contact with the county and city emergency management personnel, as well as officials from the county health department, in case conditions worsened and shelters were needed.

But the worst of the winter weather passed to the north of Cape Girardeau County and it wasn't necessary to open a shelter in the county.

The Red Cross sets up shelter agreements with churches and civic organizations throughout the area in case an emergency arises and shelter areas are needed.