Overnight high wind gusts, blowing snow, and single-digit and sub-zero temperatures have taken their toll on the region.
Around 5 a.m. the City of Cape Girardeau announced via Facebook that they would be opening an additional warming center site at 8 a.m. at the Shawnee Park Center, after a generator issue at the Osage Centre.
Later in the day, City of Cape Government communications stated that Shawnee Park Center would extend its facility hours to 8 p.m. Friday, to accommodate the remaining customers without power, and those seeking relief from the extreme cold.
According to the City of Cape's social media post, the Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to an overnight transformer fire 'and other incidents' that left over 1,300 customers without power. At the peak, around 8 a.m. the Ameren outage site showed over 2,000 customers without power.
Around 6 p.m. on Fri. Dec. 23rd, the Ameren outage site showed just over 600 customers without power.
Throughout the day, Ameren crews were battling sub-zero temperatures and windchills to restore power as quickly as possible.
Updates and outage reporting can be found on Ameren's Outage Reporting page.
The National Weather Service showed an actual air temperature of -4 just after 8 a.m. with a windchill of -25. Today's highs are expected to reach near 11 with a west wind between 14 to 20 mph, and gusts over 30 mph.
Cape Girardeau area warming center updates and information can be found on the City's website.
A full list of warming centers across Missouri can be found on the MO DHSS website.