SEASON'S HEAVIEST SNOW DISRUPTS AREA

A late-winter storm blanketed southern Missouri Tuesday night and early Wednesday with as much as 18 inches of snow, closing roads, schools and businesses.

More than a foot of snow fell on the Cape Girardeau area during a 15-hour period from 6 p.m. Tuesday to 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Snow continued to fall off and on during the day, but with above-freezing temperatures there was little additional accumulation.

A total of 12.3 inches of snow fell at the Cape Girardeau airport during the 15-hour period. By late Wednesday afternoon another three-tenths of an inch of snow had fallen, weather observers at the airport said.

It snowed steadily in the Cape Girardeau area from 6 p.m. Tuesday until 3:38 a.m. Wednesday. Snow began falling again around 6:04 a.m. and ended at 8:39 a.m. But around 10 a.m., snow once again was falling on the area.

For many area residents -- who only a few days ago were enjoying sunny, 70-degree-plus days -- the storm revived memories of the late-February blizzard of 1979.

"It brings back memories of 1979," said Larry Bock, Cape Girardeau County commissioner.

The storm closed many schools and a number of businesses throughout the area. It shut down the Cape Girardeau airport overnight, which remained closed to traffic from 8 p.m. Tuesday until 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Matt Reynolds, airport maintenance supervisor, said the airport shut down because snow plows couldn't keep up with the snow.

The main runway reopened Wednesday morning, he said. Two commercial flights were canceled. But Reynolds said, "We have had planes land and take off."

The Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center closed for the first time since the infamous '79 blizzard, and Circuit Judge William L. Syler shut down the courts in Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties.

Charlotte Craig, public health center administrator, said she closed the center out of concern for the safety of both clients and staff and the fact that more snow and sleet was forecast at the time.

Craig said the weather suits her 22-year-old son just fine. He now lives in Alaska, but is back home visiting his parents. "He likes this kind of weather," said Craig.

Syler said he decided to close the courts Wednesday because of the heavy snow and the forecast at that time of more snow on the way. Syler said he made his decision about 5:30 a.m.

The judge said he also postponed a jury trial in a drug case set for today in Jackson.

Syler acknowledged that it's unusual to cancel court. "It seldom happens and you hate to do it."

All things considered, the storm hit at a good time for Southeast Missouri State University. With students on spring break and no classes scheduled, university crews had an easier time with snow removal, said Mark Vogel, assistant director of the physical plant.

The heaviest snowfall, 18 inches, was reported at Branson -- the country music mecca where most shows are closed this time of year.

Sixteen inches were reported on the ground at Doniphan, while 15 inches fell at West Plains. Poplar Bluff had 12 to 14 inches of snow.

At Branson, tree branches, roofs and awnings buckled under the accumulation of heavy, wet snow.

Scattered power outages were reported in Barry County.

Heavy snow left many cars stranded along U.S. 65, which the highway patrol closed late Tuesday night from Ozark to Branson. Authorities reopened the highway Wednesday morning.

The storm also forced the closing of the northbound lanes of Interstate 55 near Benton Tuesday night. The lanes reopened Wednesday morning.

Moisture froze on the northbound lanes near the Benton interchange and tractor-trailer trucks couldn't make it up the hill, authorities said.

"We had several cars and trucks off the road," said Freeman McCullah, District 10 engineer with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department office in Sikeston.

A Scott County Sheriff's Department dispatcher said there were so many stalled and stuck vehicles that motorists had to wait their turn for tow trucks.

Dexter Police Chief Rick Walker advised, "If you don't have to go, stay home."

One man was killed in a weather-related traffic accident in Springfield.

In Southeast Missouri, numerous accidents were reported, but injuries were few, the Missouri Highway Patrol said.

Cape Girardeau police said the snowfall stranded a number of motorists Tuesday night and early Wednesday, but few accidents were reported.

"We have only had two or three today. All of them have been minor," traffic division Sgt. Al Moore said Wednesday.

City, county and state road crews worked around the clock to clear the streets and highways.

Cape Girardeau city crews hit the streets when the snow began falling Tuesday evening. "They plowed pretty well all night long," said Emmett Baker of the Public Works Department.

As of mid-morning, the city's main roads were in good shape and crews were plowing snow off secondary roads.

Cape Girardeau County highway crews began the job of clearing county roads around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

"We are trying to get through all the roads we possibly can as soon as we can," said Bock, Cape County commissioner.

With 550-plus miles of county roads, most of them gravel, plowing all that snow takes time, he said.

Missouri Highway and Transportation Department crews began battling the winter storm around midday Tuesday in the southernmost areas of the state, and continued throughout the night as the storm continued moving toward the northeast.

The highway department's District 10 encompasses the Southeast Missouri area.

"We've got about 3,500 miles of road. All of that has to be plowed," said the highway department's McCullah

He said about 150 pieces of equipment -- from road graders to snowplow-equipped trucks -- were used to clear snow from primary highways and state routes Wednesday.

The winter storm brought a lot of snow, but the heavy, wet snow proved relatively easy to plow -- particularly since there was no ice underneath, said McCullah.

"This was a snow that once you put the plow down and moved it, you didn't have to worry about any ice underneath it," said Baker, the Cape Girardeau Public Works Department official.

Bock said the fact the ground was relatively warm aided in melting snow from the roadways.

(The Associated Press contributed some information for this story.)