New record low set in Cape; snow in the forecast for Wednesday

Schools closed, businesses opened late and the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau doubled as a warming center as frigid temperatures kept roads ice-covered and people inside Monday.

Cape Girardeau's low temperature record for Jan. 6 of 4 degrees that was set 1970 was broken as the temperature dipped to 0 degrees at about 9:30 a.m. Monday, according to David Purdy, meteorological technician with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky. The low daytime temperature was 1 degree in Cape Girardeau.

During the winter of 1976 and 1977, the region experienced 15 days of negative temperatures, according to Southeast Missourian archives. The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport recorded a temperature of minus 18 degrees Jan. 11, 1977 -- the coldest temperature on record since 1974.

This week's temperatures will gradually begin to warm up and are forecast to reach the 30s by Wednesday, but more snow is possible Wednesday and Thursday, Purdy said.

The forecast calls for a 50 percent chance of snow Wednesday night, and a 50 percent chance of a wintry mix Thursday.

Because temperatures are so low, if it does snow, it doesn't seem likely the snow would turn into ice, Purdy said.

"That should be a plus, but it's not going to be fun," he said.

The cold temperatures are preventing chemicals the Missouri Department of Transportation road crews use to melt the ice from working as they should, according to MoDOT district engineer Mark Shelton.

"The chemicals just aren't going to be nearly as effective as we would like them to be," Shelton said.

Road crews have focused their attention on clearing high-traffic routes, he said, so others, including lettered roads, are not in good shape.

"The interstate is in fair shape at best," Shelton said.

Though roads may have thawed a bit Monday, as temperatures had been forecast to rise to 5 degrees by Monday evening, Shelton said roads are expected to refreeze.

Crews will continue getting chemicals on pavement, he said.

At about 5:45 a.m. Monday, MoDOT in a news release announced that power lines were down at mile marker 92 in Cape Girardeau, closing the north- and southbound lanes of Interstate 55. The lines were off the interstate by 6 a.m.

Kent Martin, spokesman for Ameren Missouri, said 922 Ameren customers lost power for about 45 minutes as a result of the downed power lines. Once the lines were cleared, power was switched to another circuit, and 415 customers lost power for a couple minutes as that circuit also suffered an outage.

All power has been restored, he said.

There still are some outages scattered throughout the region, which is the nature of the weather right now, Martin said, but there were no major outages as of late Monday morning.

Because of the power outage, the Osage Centre opened at 7:30 a.m. as a warming center, according to Jessica Sexton, public information specialist for the city of Cape Girardeau. Other city facilities opened at 10 a.m.

No one had come to the Osage Centre as of about 11 a.m., said Penny Williams, recreation division manager of the facility, but it is open to the general public to come in and stay warm.

"The heat is on here, so we're in good shape," Williams said.

The American Red Cross has not made a request for the facility to remain open overnight, she said.

The Osage Centre will be open during regular operation hours, which are from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, according to Williams.

Although the wintry mix forecast for Thursday is a risk and "could be sort of messy," Purdy said the ice probably will be melted by Friday, as the forecast high is 42 degrees.

Purdy and Shelton advised caution to those driving in the icy conditions, as roadways that look wet could be ice.

The Cape Girardeau airport recorded the temperature as 7 degrees midafternoon. The temperature had been expected to drop back down to about 2 degrees Monday night.

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