City crews, emergency departments prepare for winter storm
News-Press NOW’s Storm Tracker Meteorologists are predicting approximately five to eight inches of snow to begin around midnight on Tuesday evening.
City of St. Joseph road crews have been out pre-treating streets ahead of the predicted winter storm and emergency departments are preparing to respond to crashes due to reduced visibility and impacted roadways.
According to the News-Press NOW’s Storm Tracker team, A Winter Storm Warning will go into effect for all of Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas from midnight Tuesday to 9 PM Wednesday, as significant snowfall is forecast to impact the region.
Greg Bolon, MoDOT Northwest District maintenance and traffic engineer, says road crews have been salting the roads since the beginning of the week to prepare for the weather.
“Once it does start snowing, it’ll start reacting with that salt and keep it from bonding to the pavement, so it buys us time because with the 20-county area in Northwest Missouri, we don’t have trucks to get everywhere at the same time,” Bolon explained.
The weather forecast is predicting 3 to 4 inches of snow on the low end and 6 to 8 inches on the high-end beginning Tuesday night and continuing into Wednesday morning.
Snow-covered roads and periods of limited visibility are anticipated through Wednesday and the Missouri State Highway Patrol is urging drivers to stay home until the day after the snowfall, if possible.
“If we do get what they are predicting, unnecessary travel, I would not recommend it,” said Sergeant Shane Hux with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. “f you do have to get out in those conditions and the roadways are snow covered, obviously you’re going to have to decrease your speed and increase your following distance.”
Officials are also reminding the public that due to the road conditions, there could be many lane and road closures, and drivers should plan ahead for any commute on Wednesday.
“Don’t rely just upon your GPS, you can always check out the MoDOT traveler app before you leave your home to see if there’s any road closures at that time,” Sgt. Hux said.
