Light morning snow vanishes as area readies for warm-up

When it began to snow large, puffy flakes Friday morning, Kelly Totten began to get anxious. Her December had already been slippery enough, with bad weather creating an ice rink out of her parking lot that made it impossible for her to get to work for a day or so.

"I was kind of mad, thinking here we go again," said Totten of Cape Girardeau. "I think everybody's ready for this to be over with. I know I've certainly had enough."

Then here's some good news: It just might be over with ... for a while, anyway.

By Friday afternoon, the morning's snowfall was a frosty memory, stopping after only about a quarter of an inch accumulation. As a bonus, the temperature rose to 37, the warmest in the past few days. The streets were clear and the National Weather Service brought a little more sunshine when it forecasted a warm-up with no signs of snow in the near-term.

"It looks like it's going to warm up pretty quickly," said Mike York, a meteorologist with the weather service in Paducah, Ky., which monitors the Cape Girardeau area. "We're looking at highs in the 50s by Sunday with quite a bit of sunshine.

"Quite a turnaround, huh?"

Indeed. December has dumped about 9 1/2 inches of snow on Cape Girardeau, according to KFVS-12 meteorologist John Dissauer. Over the past 32 years, an entire winter's worth of snow has averaged about 12 1/2 inches, he said.

"We've gotten a big chunk of that in December this year," he said. "But it's not totally unheard of. In 2000, we had 11.3 inches in December."

Both meteorologists said today's temperatures should be in the lower 50s, and Sunday should see upper 50s. Monday could bring rain, but temperatures should stay relatively warm in the 50s.

The temperatures should become more seasonable on Tuesday, returning back to the 40s. There is a chance of rain or snow by Thursday, York said, but added: "It's really too early to tell. I'd just enjoy what's out there right now -- or what's not out there."

That was good news to Alton, Ill., resident Edward North, who is in Cape Girardeau working at a kiosk at the mall.

"I've been slipping around in my car for days," he said. "I'm ready for the snow to go away. Being from out of town, the last thing I want is to get snowed in."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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