Sunday snow won't stick around

After a high of close to 70 on Saturday, Cape Girardeau residents were greeted with a temperature of 34 degrees and snow Sunday afternoon.

Robin Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., said 1 inch -- possibly 2 -- was expected.

Smith said Cape Girardeau could get about an inch of a combination of sleet and snow. The heavier stuff, he said, was supposed to end about 6 p.m. and the precipitation stop all together at 9 or 10 p.m. Sunday.

The precipitation is expected to melt off by this afternoon. A high of 45 is expected today under sunny skies, according to the NWS website.

Cpl. Clark Parrott, public information officer for Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E, said in a 4:35 p.m. voice mail that North Cape Girardeau County was starting to clear off.

"The spots we are working on right now are between Cape and Benton on Interstate 55. We've got a tractor-trailer that has jackknifed at the 86.2 [mile marker] northbound and are working four to five slide-offs right now," Parrott said. He added no injuries were reported with the slide-offs.

A Hyundai Elantra sits next the northbound lanes of Interstate 55 after it was involved in an accident Sunday afternoon, March 16, 2014, near mile marker 109 south of the Oak Ridge exit. (FRED LYNCH)

Mark Shelton, a district engineering with the Missouri Department of Transportation, said Sunday the snow and/or sleet was localized to just south of Perryville, Mo., almost to the Jefferson County line, then over to Fredericktown, Mo., and Farmington, Mo.

Shelton said the precipitation was supposed to clear out and the temperatures fall, so MoDOT will be watching for black ice for the morning commute. No pre-treatment was done for this round of weather as MoDOT's materials are somewhat limited, "especially this time of year."

It was hoped last week's temperatures would warm the pavement and "help us out," Shelton said. He encouraged drivers to check the MoDOT traveler information map on its website, traveler.modot.org/map/ to see what road conditions are like before setting off.

The driver of a pickup truck on Interstate 55 was not injured Sunday afternoon, March 16, 2014 after the southbound vehicle skidded off the highway and crashed into a signpost and a pole. The accident happened just south of mile marker 111 at the Route E - Oak Ridge interchange. (Fred Lynch)

As of about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Cape Girardeau and Jackson schools had not decided whether they would be in session today. Cape Girardeau superintendent Jim Welker and Jackson superintendent Ron Anderson said they had to go out and see what the streets were like.

"I really think we'll be fine, but we always evaluate just to make sure," Anderson said.

The same was true for Welker, who said officials would drive around to see what the roads look like. "The latest forecast is not showing much more in the way of precipitation, so we'll just have to wait and see what the streets are like and what the parking lots and sidewalks are like," Welker said.

For Cape Girardeau, the average date for the season's last measurable snowfall was March 5, but the area has had snow as late as April 15, Smith said.

Motorists were advised to be careful, early this morning. Overnight lows were expected to drop to 28 with wind chills in the low teens. Smith said bridges and overpasses might develop black ice.

According to the calendar, spring begins Thursday when it is forecast to be sunny with a high near 63, the NWS website said.

A high of 62 is forecast for Tuesday and the high Wednesday is forecast to be 58. After a slight chance of rain Friday, the high is expected to reach 68.