Recent snow may be last blast of winter

Though snow whitened lawns across Cape Girardeau Friday night and Saturday morning, forecasters said the weeks of cold temperatures seen since late January aren't likely to be repeated.

By Monday, Cape Girardeau should see temperatures in the 50s, with the warm daytime highs lasting through the week. "It looks good for the next week, and after that we will be hard-pressed to get any more winter weather," said Dan Spaeth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Paducah, Ky. "We may get a quick-hitting storm in March, but it won't last long. The days are numbered."

Cape Girardeau received one-100th of an inch of measurable precipitation at the regional airport, translating into less than half an inch of snow, while areas to the north and east received up to 3 inches, Spaeth said.

The wet snowfall caused some fender-bender accidents and caused a sport utility vehicle to roll over on Interstate 55 Saturday morning, Cape Girardeau police Cpl. Jason Selzer said. There were no injuries in the I-55 wreck, which took place about 8:45 a.m. and tied up traffic in the northbound lanes at mile marker 101 while the vehicle was pulled out of the median, Selzer said.

Two Bollinger County women were injured in separate accidents right before and shortly after midnight Friday when their cars slid on rural roads, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported.

Connie M. Adams, 69, of Marble Hill, Mo., was taken by ambulance to Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau when her 1999 Chevrolet Suburban slid off Route UU three miles east of Scopus, Mo. The SUV slid off to the left side before recrossing the roadway, striking a ditch and several trees at about 11:50 p.m. Friday, the patrol said.

Adams suffered moderate injuries.

Ruby S. Gwinn, 38, of Sedgewickville, Mo., slid off Route K about a quarter-mile north of Highway 72 at about 12:40 a.m. Saturday. Her car overturned, coming to rest on its top, the patrol reported. Gwinn was taken by a private car to Southeast Missouri Hospital for treatment of moderate injuries.

The heaviest snow in the region from the fast-moving system was recorded in the Mount Vernon, Ill., area and to the east, Spaeth said.

If Spaeth's prediction holds, Southeast Missouri will escape the ice and snow that have plagued much of the rest of the state throughout the winter. "We were leading a charmed life here because that stuff was stopping right where our areas began," Spaeth said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126