Southeast Missouri and southern Illinois are scraping out a sheet of ice, sleet and snow that glazed the region Tuesday. The icy weather snarled traffic and prompted schools to cancel classes.
Accumulation varied across the area. Cape Girardeau received between one and half and two inches of the mix.
The Missouri Department of Transportation’s traveler information map still shows many roads are still covered, including Interstate 55 north of Benton.
Meteorologist Jim Packett with the National Weather Service in Paducah said drivers should exercise caution this morning, but he expects road conditions to improve considerably later in the day.
This morning, he says drivers need to keep an eye out for black ice.
“Any melted precipitation or leftover freezing rain or whatever you all got yesterday, I think probably a little bit of everything, there probably is some black ice around this morning,” Packett said. “You definitely need to be careful, especially on elevated passes like bridges and overpasses.”
Snow accumulations were less than anticipated, but Packett says the entire region received more freezing rain that expected.
“The warmer air in the atmosphere in lower levels was just a little bit further north and west than the computer models were giving us and it caused there to be a little more widespread freezing rain versus snow,” Packett said.
Schools cancelled classes throughout the region, including Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Farmington, Sikeston, Ste. Genevieve and many others. Southeast Missouri State University’s main campus will be closed, as well as regional campuses in Sikeston, Malden and Kennett. The Perryville Higher Education Center will also be closed.