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PITTSBURG —
Saturday’s freezing rain was nasty, but is not shaping up to be a major ice storm, according to the National Weather Service office in Springfield, Mo., late Saturday night.
In a telephone interview, meterologist Steve Lindenberg anticipated the freezing rain would transition into snow.
“Over there in Pittsburg, you might see it stop within a couple of hours [as of 6 p.m.] and it’s probably going to be fairly light while it is coming down,” he added.
Lindenberg said that, at 7 p.m., interstate highway surfaces were still above freezing at 35 or 36 degrees, meaning those highways were clear.
“You might still get some slick patches, though, and there probably will be ice building up on elevated surfaces like bridges and overpasses,” the meterologist warned.
He was right about the slick patches. Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton reported there had been four slide-offs in the county around 6 p.m.
“I was out working one of them for an hour,” he said. “There were no injuries from any of them and no serious damage to the vehicles, just cars sliding off the road.”
Horton said traffic had slowed down, which would help a lot.
“KDOT is out treating the state roads, and that will be beneficial, too,” the sheriff said. “But the best thing you can say is to slow it down if you have to be out driving. People think they can stop like normal, and they can’t in this weather. You can’t avoid things like normal either when you start to skid.”
Lindenberg said that no further precipitation is expected Sunday or in the early part of the week, but temperatures would be cold, with highs below freezing and lows at night possibly in the single digits.
However, temperatures should moderate by midweek.
“By midweek you should be getting lows in the 20s,” the meterologist said.
Saturday’s freezing rain was nasty, but is not shaping up to be a major ice storm, according to the National Weather Service office in Springfield, Mo., late Saturday night.
In a telephone interview, meterologist Steve Lindenberg anticipated the freezing rain would transition into snow.
“Over there in Pittsburg, you might see it stop within a couple of hours [as of 6 p.m.] and it’s probably going to be fairly light while it is coming down,” he added.
Lindenberg said that, at 7 p.m., interstate highway surfaces were still above freezing at 35 or 36 degrees, meaning those highways were clear.
“You might still get some slick patches, though, and there probably will be ice building up on elevated surfaces like bridges and overpasses,” the meterologist warned.
He was right about the slick patches. Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton reported there had been four slide-offs in the county around 6 p.m.
“I was out working one of them for an hour,” he said. “There were no injuries from any of them and no serious damage to the vehicles, just cars sliding off the road.”
Horton said traffic had slowed down, which would help a lot.
“KDOT is out treating the state roads, and that will be beneficial, too,” the sheriff said. “But the best thing you can say is to slow it down if you have to be out driving. People think they can stop like normal, and they can’t in this weather. You can’t avoid things like normal either when you start to skid.”
Lindenberg said that no further precipitation is expected Sunday or in the early part of the week, but temperatures would be cold, with highs below freezing and lows at night possibly in the single digits.
However, temperatures should moderate by midweek.
“By midweek you should be getting lows in the 20s,” the meterologist said.
