A massive winter storm arrived as forecast this weekend, walloping Missouri and southern Illinois with a mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow with hours still to go before the system makes its way out of the St. Louis region.
As of Sunday night, the National Weather Service anticipates that mixture to shift largely to snow into Monday, tapering off around 7 a.m.
Transportation crews again encourage people to stay home if possible on Monday.
“That would be greatly appreciated if people took their stuff home on Friday so they could work from home on Monday, that would be even better,” said Missouri Department of Transportation District maintenance engineer Bob Becker.
Nearly 300 flights in and out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport were canceled this weekend, as were several weekend and Monday Amtrak trains with routes through St. Louis.
National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Beitscher said the snow totals so far have varied, even mile to mile in some areas.
“Folks in the northern part of the St. Louis metro area all the way up to Quincy are seeing heavy snow, and they could see up to a foot of snow by the end of this system, and then down south into Farmington and over to Rolla, they're seeing a quarter inch to a half-inch of ice,” he said. “So it's really just a matter of where you fall on the map in the region.”
Sunday's latest forecast models predict a total of five to eight inches of snowfall in much of the St. Louis region by the end of the storm Monday.
Emergency crews said the public largely heeded warnings to stay home. Businesses and attractions, such as the St. Louis Zoo and Art Museum, did not open Sunday. Many grocery stories announced early closures Sunday afternoon. Most of the region’s school districts, including St. Louis Public Schools, Rockwood and Parkway, have canceled classes for Monday.
Still, the Missouri Highway Patrol tracked 1,374 calls for service in the storm as of Sunday afternoon, reporting 597 stranded motorists, 285 crashes and 27 injuries. But Beitscher credits regional emergency responders and people living in affected areas for taking precautions to avoid unnecessary travel.
“It is, without a shadow of a doubt that people taking these precautions have saved lives across the region,” said Beitscher.
The storm also knocked out power to thousands of Ameren customers in Missouri and Illinois.
Missouri Department of Transportation crews will continue the round-the-clock work of clearing roads, starting with main highways and moving to side routes and interchanges. Becker said that even when the snow stops falling Monday, a week of frigid temperatures will keep his teams busy.
“We will have crews out probably most of the week to check in for that refreeze, because our chemicals will work, you know, as far as zero, if necessary,” he said. “But it does work slower, and we’ve got to watch out for that.”
Metro buses continued to run Sunday, some with delays. MetroLink operated as well, but with some reduction in service. Quincy and Madison County Transit Services have suspended operations.
Anyone venturing out even close to home is also urged to exercise caution, as the topping of snow could be concealing layers of packed-in precipitation.
“You don't know what lies under the snow,” said Beitscher. “Some folks are probably going to have a layer of ice, a layer of sleet, a layer of snow, a layer of ice again, and then a layer of snow again. A winter storm sandwich.”
