SURPRISE SNOWSTORM HITS AREA; CITY GETS 12.2 INCHES ON MONDAY

A surprise, Presidents Day snowstorm dumped 12.2 inches of snow on Cape Girardeau and like amounts elsewhere in the area, disrupting business, travel and schools.

Monday's snow brought back memories to many of a storm that dumped 2 feet of snow on Cape Girardeau in February 1979.

It's the third time this winter that frozen precipitation has struck on a holiday. The first was a 1-inch snow on Christmas Day and the second a combination of snow and ice on Jan. 18, Martin Luther King Day.

Al Robertson, climatologist and professor with the department of geosciences at Southeast Missouri State University, said Monday's snow was the first significant snow in Cape Girardeau since Feb. 14, 1986, when 6 inches fell at the airport. It was the heaviest snow to occur on a single day in Cape Girardeau since the 24-inch snow that buried Cape Girardeau County on Feb. 25, 1979.

Monday's snow began as light snow at 5:27 a.m., and grew in intensity throughout the morning. By 9 a.m., 2 inches were on the ground; at noon, 6 inches. At 3 p.m., it had increased to 11 inches. When the snow finally ended around 6 p.m., the 12.2 inches were measured.

The melted precipitation at the airport measured 1.26 inches from Monday to Tuesday morning.

The weather station at the Jackson Fire Department reported 11 inches on the ground.

The National Weather Service at St. Charles said a narrow band of heavy, wet snow measuring 10-16 inches fell from West Plains to Cape Girardeau.

The snow tapered off north of Cape Girardeau, then became heavier in the metro St. Louis area. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport received 8 inches. In the Missouri Bootheel, snow depths ranged from 4-6 inches. Across the river, Mound City and Ullin, Ill., measured 12-14 inches.

Southwest City, in southwest Missouri, got the most snow: 21 inches. Seven of those inches fell during a two-hour period Monday afternoon that included a thunderstorm.

The heavy snow in this area was not expected. A forecaster said Cape Girardeau was expected to receive more rain than snow because warmer air was forecast to move into the area during the morning. But the colder air stayed put and the moisture never changed over to rain.

Kevin McMeel, assistant public works director, said street crews were at work at 7 a.m. Monday, but were overwhelmed when the snow became heavier late in the morning.

"The problem was we got too much snow in a short amount of time. No sooner would we get our primary and secondary streets plowed, then we had to go right back and start on them all over again because of the heavy snow coming down," he explained. "We had all of our equipment and men working, but we just couldn't stay ahead of it. As a result, we didn't get to plowing some of the residential areas until after midnight."

McMeel said two snow crews worked 12-hour shifts on Monday and Monday night and Tuesday morning to plow the streets. "Fortunately, it was a holiday, so a lot of people who would have been on the streets were at home," he said. "Not having school in session was also a big help."

McMeel and Sgt. Carl Kinnison of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said the fact that schools and federal and state offices were closed helped immensely. Kinnison said a number of businesses, including West Park Mall, closed around 4 p.m., to allow employees to get home before dark.

"As a result, we had a lot fewer people and vehicles on the street around the evening rush hour than normal," he said. "Everything went a lot better than you'd expect with a 12-inch snowstorm. We had 23 motor vehicle accidents that were reported Monday. None involved injuries."

Mark Vogel, assistant director of the physical plant department at Southeast Missouri State University, said ground crews began working at midnight Monday to clear snow-covered parking lots and streets on campus. "We have about 3,000 students whose home is the campus, so we try to get the streets, parking lots, and sidewalks cleared so they can use them," Vogel said.

Monday's storm caught interstate travelers by surprise in the Cape Girardeau area. Many decided to pull off the interstate and spend the night in Cape Girardeau motels rather than risk continuing their journey.

Martha Wills, desk clerk at the Cape Girardeau Drury Lodge, said by 4 p.m. Monday "we had people lined up at the front desk to get a room. By 5 p.m., there were no more rooms available."

A spokesman for the Holiday Inn here said they were filled to capacity by 6 p.m. Similar situations were reported at other motels near the interstate.

Ed Schilling, manager of the Rhodes Travel Center on I-55 and Airport Road south of Cape Girardeau, said by late Monday night about 400 semi-trucks and travel campers were parked on the truck stop parking lot and on the old Harris Truck Center parking lot across Nash Road from the truck stop.

Schilling, who spent most of the night operating a front-end loader to clear snow for waiting trucks, said the truckers started coming in around 11 a.m. Monday.

A jacknifed semi-truck blocked traffic on I-55 for more than four hours at the 79-mile marker between Benton and Sikeston.

"When they reopened I-55 Monday evening, I had over 100 trucks pull into the truck stop for the night," Schilling said. "All I could see was left-turn signals lined up on the off-ramp. They were waiting for me to plow spaces for them on the Harris property.

"This is one of the few times I've seen the truckers come in off the interstate so fast. They weren't going to take any chances of winding up jackknifed or off the interstate and having to pay a $200-$300 towing bill," he said.

Schilling said the truckers spent the night in their warm sleeper cabs after eating in the restaurant.

"We can seat about 280 people at a time in the restaurant. Most of the time it was nearly full, but everyone was accommodating. When the weather came on TV, there wasn't a seat to be found in the trucker's lounge," he said.

Schilling said the truck center has a large supply of food, and did not have any problems feeding everyone since it has a two to three day supply on hand.

By late Monday afternoon, the Missouri Highway Patrol and Illinois State Police were advising motorists who were still on the interstates to find some place to spend the night and advising everyone else who did not have to be out to stay at home.