Weekend snow storm begins light and fluffy

A snowplow from Missouri Department of Transportation traveling south on Hwy 67, clearing up light and fluffy snow

On Friday, bread and pantry aisles were emptied out at a bustling Walmart and the school held Fredericktown Day at MAC, though they had to cancel the cheer, dance and band performances. Even the McDonald’s closed.

On Saturday snow began around 5 a.m. and Missouri Department of Transportation sent their southeast snow plows to keep the area clear, which they said was mostly light and fluffy snow on Saturday by 2 p.m.

MoDOT snow plows could be seen driving south 67, where the clean half of the road was traversed by the typical trucks and cars driving their 70+ miles per hour.

MoDOT Southeast District Maintenance Engineer Amy Bryant said she was thankful for “light and fluffy” snow that posed little problem for traffic, and was easy to clean up. She had the entire fleet manned by Saturday morning. The plan is to have trucks out on major routes at all times, and then work on smaller routes if they got cleared up.

The MoDOT map showed Fredericktown road conditions as blue, “partly covered,” in the north and south 67 and east and west 72. The surrounding cities like Ironton, Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff shaded purple, “covered.” Though most of the closures were farther south, towards Arkansas.

She said they would run day and night crews, who were slightly hampered by the cold weather, which limits the use of chemicals on the road. Chemicals risk refreezing, and if they melt they could become icy.

“We’ve been kind of blessed so far that it’s a lighter snow, so we’ve been able to plow it off,” she said. She asked everyone to stay home unless they absolutely had to leave, and to allow extra time for travel.

“We just ask everybody to be patient with us, we are out there and taking care of things. It just takes time.” 

She is prepared for the National Weather Service forecast of a larger blast beginning Saturday evening and running potentially until the afternoon.

MSHP said that Madison County was fairly clear and uneventful by 2 p.m., with maybe one crash, but would be on the lookout for a second wave expected in the afternoon.

Fredericktown was up to about 2 inches by 1 p.m. 

Fredericktown City Administrator James Settle said he’d have 3 of his 4 snow plows commissioned the entire time to prepare for the weather, and that they’d be working day and night. Mayor Travis Parker said the Police Station would be used as a warming station if the need arose.

Settle himself would take a vehicle. “I don’t ask them to do something I wouldn’t,” he said. He said the fourth snow plow is currently being repaired in Scott City, and he has enough workers for the one running.

Both city and county were mostly staying in, and many prepared for the worse weather ahead.

We will have updates as the story develops.