Major Southeast Missouri ice storms

• Jan. 22, 1927: A major storm bringing ice, sleet and snow reached Southeast Missouri, downing power and telephone lines across Cape Girardeau and cutting telegraph service along the Frisco Railroad line. High-power electric lines were brought down when two steel towers snapped between Oran and Chaffee, Mo. Utility crews worked to restore power over the next four days.
• Feb. 1, 1950: The worst ice storm since the 1927 event left 40 percent of Cape Girardeau without power and virtually eliminated long-distance telephone service from Cape Girardeau.
• Jan. 16, 1997: No mail is delivered in Cape Girardeau for the first time in 28 years as ice-coated streets force the cancellation of schools as well as the closing of businesses and government offices.
• Dec. 22, 1998: An ice storm is blamed for the traffic death of a Beeville, Texas, man traveling just south of Sikeston, Mo., on Interstate 55.
• Feb. 16 and 17, 2003: A winter storm drops 1 to 1 1/2 inches of ice and sleet Cape Girardeau, disrupting church services but causing few accidents as motorists stay home on a Sunday morning.

n Jan. 25, 2004: An ice storm leaves hundreds without power, again on a Sunday, in the northern part of the city as power lines give way under the weight of ice. By Monday afternoon, most power was restored, but high winds snapping tree limbs cause power outages again for about 1,400 customers.

• Feb. 11 and 12, 2008: One traffic fatality in New Madrid County is blamed on a major ice storm that deposits up to 2 inches of ice, cuts power to more than 40,000 residents of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois and forces schools, many businesses and government offices to close. Shelters are opened in Jackson and Cape Girardeau.
• Jan. 26 to 28, 2009: A storm that begins about 6 p.m. Monday ends Wednesday morning with ice, sleet and snow accumulations of 8 inches or more across a large area. At the peak, almost 100,000 people are without power from Poplar Bluff, across the Missouri Bootheel into Southern Illinois. More than a dozen warming shelters are opened in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Chaffee and other Southeast Missouri cities.