After significant snow fell over the Southeast Missouri region, what remains are icy roads, single-digit temperatures, and below-zero wind chills over the next few hours.
According to the National Weather Service, the coldest wind chills are expected Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
Just before 6 pm Wednesday, the Missouri Department of Transportation Traveler Information Map showed modest improvement in road conditions after several hours of road crews working through the state, but many secondary roads appear to be snow and ice-packed.
Around 5:20 pm on Wednesday, Southeast Missouri State University announced that all campuses will operate on a delayed start on Thursday, February 20, with offices opening at 10:30 a.m. and classes starting at 11 a.m.
The City of Cape Girardeau announced that trash and recycling routes would be delayed throughout the week due to inclement weather—Tuesday routes would run on Thursday, Thursday routes would run on Friday, and Friday routes would run on Saturday.
The Transfer Station is also closed. According to the City of Cape, the amount of snow and temperatures have made snow removal very difficult but stated that crews would continue to work to get streets as clear as possible.
Updates can be found on the City of Cape website and their Facebook page.
Original story published 02/18/2025
Winter Weather is hitting Southeast Missouri hard this week with dangerous conditions settling over the region in the coming days.
A major winter storm is taking shape across the region, with heavy snow and ice spreading east from 3 pm to 6 pm Tuesday night. Affected areas range through southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and the purchase areas of western Kentucky.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Southeast Missouri State University announced that campuses would close on February 18 immediately due to the winter storm. All classes were also canceled and offices closed beginning at 4 p.m. Tuesday. All classes were also canceled and offices would be closed on February 19 as well.
Hazardous travel conditions are expected to develop this evening and continue overnight. Allan Diegan, Senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky talked about the conditions over the next few hours.
“The latest snowfall forecast still has significant snow accumulations with many areas expected to see as much as 4 to 6 inches of snow. Areas across southeast Missouri may see as much as 6 to 8 inches with locally higher amounts possible. Accumulating snow will end from west to east during the early to mid-morning hours on Wednesday. Remember a winter storm warning remains in effect for areas south of I-64 through Wednesday morning. Areas north of I-64 are under a winter weather advisory", said Diegan.
It's not over after the snow comes through, as cold temperatures and windchills as low as negative five to negative thirteen degrees are expected for the rest of the week. Consequently, a cold weather advisory will go into effect for the regions from Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
