REGION ENTERS `ICE AGE'; FEEZING RAIN ALMOST BRINGS AREA TO HALT

Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois experienced its own "ice age" Wednesday.

A storm covered the region in sheets of ice, closing schools, government offices and some businesses, and interrupting electricity in some areas.

More frigid air is on the way.

Freezing rain and below-freezing temperatures made driving treacherous. A large number of schools, businesses and government offices closed Wednesday.

Cape Girardeau police and other emergency services recommended that people stay off of roads, parking lots and sidewalks because of the ice. Drooping and falling tree limbs and power lines added to the problems.

"All of the roads in Southeast Missouri are covered in ice," reported the Missouri Highway Patrol. "It's raining, sleeting and freezing, and the highway department cannot get the roads cleaned," the patrol said Wednesday as the precipitation fell.

Cape Girardeau police Cpl. Kevin Orr said city roads were very slick. "By the look of the temperatures, it does not appear it's going to get over freezing, and that's going to be a problem for us," Orr said Wednesday.

He said officers were responding to emergency calls as necessary, and people involved in vehicle accidents without injuries should simply exchange information. A report would be taken later, he said.

Partial street closures were in effect due to hazards Wednesday.

The National Weather Service had posted a winter storm warning for the entire region through Wednesday. Meteorologist Rick Shanklin said the storm was caused by a system centered over eastern Kansas. The system moved northeast towards Chicago, he said, but the front came directly through Southeast Missouri, dumping a winter mix as it headed northeast.

Shanklin said very cold temperatures with winds of 15 to 25 mph are expected to arrive today. "The main problem we'll have after this is extreme cold," he said. "We'll possibly get into the single digits by Thursday afternoon, and the wind chill factor will be a big concern."

Alfred Robertson, a Southeast Missouri State University geography professor, said the sleet and freezing rain were the result of warm rain falling through cold air to a frozen surface.

"There is very cold air at the surface," he said. "What we have now is warmer air going through the colder air and freezing on contact."

A number of power outages were reported Wednesday morning to Union Electric Co. in Cape Girardeau and Gordonville.

The ice and high winds could interrupt more power supplies throughout the region. "If there is much accumulation of ice on power lines with the wind blowing at high speeds, they could break," Shanklin said.

Cape Girardeau police reported isolated incidents of power outages in parts of Cape Girardeau Wednesday. This is a condition that might worsen, they said, depending upon continued precipitation.

"People need to have arrangements set up in case something happens and they lose their power for the evening," said Orr.

Robertson said people don't have many options before Sunday, which is the first day temperatures are expected to climb above freezing. "All we can do is just wait it out," he said.