Low temps bring Cape's first snowfall of season

Southeast Missouri residents got their first real -- if brief -- taste of winter Thursday morning, as light snow flurries fell briefly after a night that saw rain mixed with ice.

Several Cape Girardeau residents reported light snowfall Thursday morning and over-night drivers reported icy rain Wednesday night.

But none of it added up to much, said Bob Reeves, a meteorologist with KFVS12, the Cape Girardeau-based CBS affiliate television station.

Reeves said they received no reports of snow and that if any fell it was not a measurable amount.

The forecast, he said, was for temperatures in the low 30s to highs in the low 50s. Reeves said the seven-day forecast doesn't call for any precipitation, either.

"It's November, so it's going to be gray and rainy from time to time," he said.

Temperatures were below normal, though, he said. The average high for this time of year is 58 to 60 degrees, he said, reporting a noontime temperature Wednesday of 52. The average amount of rainfall for November is 4 to 5 inches and he said the area is on target to match that.

With a weak cold front moving in, Reeves said to expect weekend temperatures to be around 54 degrees Saturday, 50 Sunday and the upper 40s Monday.

"So we're going to have slightly cooler temperatures for the week," he said.

The National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., had a similar forecast. Today was expected to partly cloudy with a high near 55 with a southwest wind between 3 and 9 mph. Tonight, the service said, to expect mostly clear skies with a low around 32 and calming winds.

Saturday was expected to be mostly sunny with a high near 53 and Saturday night should see a low of around 33. The service's extended forecast called for a mostly sunny Thanksgiving Day with a high near 55.

smoyers@semissourian.com

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