Last weekend’s winter storm brought snow and school closings, but Laclede County is still standing.
Steve Runnels, warning coordination meteorologist with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather Service Springfield Missouri, said Tuesday that across the region, snow was anywhere from four to 10 inches.
Runnels said NWS Springfield’s region covers 34 counties in Missouri and three in Kansas. The I-44 corridor and south (generally between I-44 and U.S. 60), he said, seemed to pick up a heavier amount of snow (six to 10 inches). The storm came in two phases, with the second bearing most of the snowfall.
As for accidents, the Lebanon Police Department reported two accidents, one on Friday at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Elm Street and one at Chalet Village on Sunday, both with no injuries. The LPD also reported they helped motorists 22 times.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop I’s information officer, Cpl. Ralicia Taylor, reported 106 calls Jan. 24-25, which includes all stranded motorists and crashes, for the troop. Troop I’s patrol area includes Laclede County.
The county’s road and bridge foreman, Jerrod Shepherd, said on Tuesday he was happy overall with his crew’s work clearing the roads of the county’s Common Road District. At the time, he said there were some narrow spots of the road he was investigating.
The department had prepared for the storm by preparing its equipment and ensuring the fuel and its treatment were correct. Snowplow trucks went out Saturday, he said, and graders went out Sunday morning. He reported clear roads for the district by Monday.
Amber Meredith, volunteer executive director of the Free Store Ministry, reported that the warming station at the Free Store and the Lebanon Warming Center averaged 12 people daily during the storm, and the stations were able to take care of emergency heat, blanket and food calls.
Over at Bennett Spring State Park, senior naturalist and resource interpreter Sam Grove reported on Tuesday that the park received around seven inches of snow. Staff had worked through the weekend to clear the roads.
As for the wildlife, Grove took the spotting of an eagle outside the park and songbirds at the bird feeder behind the park’s nature center as signs the birds had survived, and she observed plenty of tracks from squirrels and deer, much of them going to the head of the spring, which stays 57 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year.
