Winter weather forces cancellations

A winter storm, accompanied by arctic temperatures, prompted the cancellation Monday of several Veterans Day activities and other events in the area, and led to early closings of some schools.

Monday night's open house at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau has been rescheduled for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 18, school officials said.

Some rural schools closed early, including Zalma, Oak Ridge and Woodland, according to Facebook posts. All after-school activities at Woodland in Marble Hill, Missouri, were canceled.

The Avenue of Flags was not displayed Monday for Veterans Day at Cape County Park North because of the forecast for inclement weather.

David Cantrell, chairman of the Avenue of Flags program, made the announcement in a Facebook post Sunday afternoon.

"This decision is based upon the adverse weather forecast of freezing rain and temperatures couples with high winds," he wrote. "these conditions could result in excessive damage to the over 700 flags and poles. As stewards of this amazing program, we simply cabn't afford to take that risk."

The Avenue of Flags typically is displayed five times a year -- Memorial Day, Flag Day, the Fourth of July, Sept. 11 and Veterans Day -- to honor the memories of deceased service members from Cape Girardeau County.

The storm began as a chilling rain in advance of the snow.

The National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky, reported snow accumulations of 1 to 2 inches likely in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, with wind gusts of as high as 30 to 35 mph.

A winter weather advisory was in effect until 9 p.m. Monday. Record or near record cold was on tap for late Monday night, with lows from 14 to 19 degrees, and windchill temperatures of 0 to 5 degrees forecast, the Weather Service said.

The forecast for Tuesday calls for sunny skies, but a high of only 24 degrees with a low of 14 degrees.