Storm weaker than forecast

Jeremy Pierce joked Tuesday he thought he might have to head into his "apocalypse shelter" after hearing the Cape Girardeau forecast for the day.

In addition to 2 to 4 inches of snow and sleet, meteorologists with the National Weather Service warned of the possibility of "catastrophic icing," issuing a flood watch and winter storm warning. Schools canceled class, and utility and public works crews prepared for the worst.

But in the end, the storm proved less severe than anticipated. Police departments reported few car wrecks as a result of the weather, most Southeast Missourians had power Tuesday night, and roads were mostly clear for the evening commute.

"As of right now, it's been a little overblown," said Sara West, a senior at Southeast Missouri State University.

The storm proved to be more of an inconvenience to West than anything. Her car was coated with ice Tuesday morning, and she allowed 15 extra minutes for her commute from Sikeston, Mo. The roads were a little "slushy, but not bad," she said.

While St. Louis was socked with about 9 inches of snow, only about a 10th of an inch of precipitation fell in Cape Girardeau between midnight Monday and 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"There really wasn't the widespread precipitation we thought there was going to be," said Mary Lamm, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky.

Temperatures hovered around the freezing point Tuesday, but a high in the 40s is predicted for today. Any accumulated ice or snow is expected to melt. There is a 20 percent chance of rain or freezing rain after midnight, according to the National Weather Service.

Crews from the Cape Girardeau Public Works Department applied 200 tons of salt Tuesday. Steve Cook, Cape Girardeau's assistant public works director, said that the roads were mainly wet, not icy, throughout the day. Workers completed a normally scheduled shift, not having to work the overtime required by the two previous storms within the last month.

"The streets are in pretty good shape. It looks like the storm is winding up," Cook said about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Six motor vehicle accidents were reported in Cape Girardeau as of Tuesday evening, and one was reported in Jackson.

As of 5:40 p.m., AmerenUE was reporting no outages in Southeast Missouri. About 106 AmerenCIPS customers in Alto Pass, Ill., had no electricity.

More than 7,000 Citizens Electric Cooperative customers lost power Tuesday, but by 4 p.m. only 15 people remained without power. According to the company's Web site, the outages are mostly northwest of Perryville, Mo.

SEMO Electric Cooperative, Black River Electric Cooperative and the Jackson public utility reported either reported no outages or only a handful of outages Tuesday afternoon.

Officials, residents and public works crews expressed relief the storm was not as bad as originally thought, especially in comparison to the Feb. 12 ice storm.

"It wasn't as serious as last time. The last one was way worse," West said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

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