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Winter storm creates air travel delays across Midwest (live links)

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Midwest travelers this Thanksgiving holiday suffered delays and cancellations because of a winter storm passing through Saturday and Sunday.

Chicago’ O’Hare was one of the airports hit hard by delays. The winter conditions of snow and wind created a domino effect and well over 11 thousand delays nationally. Check here for current counts.

American Airlines says alerts of possible delays could impact 2.7 million of its customers through Tuesday.

The northeastern U.S. is next to feel the brunt of Winter Storm Ezekiel, which will impact at least 30 states.

Winter weather advisory issued for far northwest Missouri on Thanksgiving night (AUDIO)

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The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pleasant Hill has issued a winter weather advisory for far northwest Missouri for Thanksgiving evening, through Friday morning at 9.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for northwest Missouri’s Atchison, Holt, Nodaway, Andrew, Worth, Gentry and Harrison counties (November 28, 2019 map courtesy of NWS Pleasant Hill Twitter)

NWS meteorologist Scott Blair says towns like Maryville, Rockport and Bethany will likely see a wintry mix and small ice pellets today, before the advisory kicks in at 6 pm.

“The real concern for northwest Missouri is going to come after dark, and during the overnight hours that’s when we’re going to look at temperatures kind of cool back down to about anywhere from 30, 31 degrees,” Blair says.

The winter weather advisory covers seven counties: Atchison, Holt, Nodaway, Andrew, Worth, Gentry and Harrison. It includes towns like Tarkio, Mound City, Savannah and Grant City.

Blair is urging Thanksgiving Day travelers using I-29 to be cautious, as well as drivers across those seven rural counties.

“What we’re concerned about up there is just the potential for at least some slick spots, secondary roadways potentially having a light glaze of ice,” says Blair.

The NWS warns that untreated roads will become hazardous, and Blair recommends taking it slow, if you have to drive in that area.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Scott Blair, which was recorded on November 28, 2019:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Missouri lawmaker unhappy with MoDOT response to winter storm this month

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A state lawmaker from eastern Missouri is criticizing what he calls the state Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT’s) incompetence, for its handling of the Veterans Day winter storm.

State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, speaks on the Missouri House floor on May 17, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, says his vehicle struck black ice in St. Charles County during the storm and that he had to use his emergency brake to stop.

Schroer says he almost crashed and saw another vehicle flip over on I-70 in Lake St. Louis.

He wants MoDOT to examine how other states handle snow, including the chemicals they’re using. Schroer says the agency wasn’t ready for the storm.

“Is what we (Missouri) are doing to prepare in these types of situations, in these snowstorms, these ice storms, is that adequate,” Schroer asks. “Is that enough? Look to other states, see what they’re doing.”

Schroer says it took him more than 90 minutes to get home that evening, a trip that normally takes 15 minutes.

“It’s just ridiculous to me because now I have two young girls that I had to go get (that evening) and slid in the black ice and I’m trying to get them home,” says Schroer.

There were hundreds of crashes across the state during the Veterans Day winter storm. One woman who was stuck by a vehicle in St. Charles County, after the “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reports her car had problems in the weather. And state troopers say a 61-year-old man from Chilhowee died when he lost control of his vehicle on an ice-covered road and overturned near western Missouri’s Centerview.

As for MoDOT, they tell Missourinet that although forecasts said it would end midday on Veterans Day, an additional wave of snow came through that afternoon after the first snow melted and washed off the salt. They say their trucks were treating roads all day. They also note their trucks were blocked by significant crashes that day on I-70 in Schroer’s St. Charles County district.

MoDOT also says safety is their top priority and that they have hundreds of dedicated employees who work hard to keep St. Louis-area roads safe during winter storms.

Schroer, who serves as the vice chairman of the House Special Committee on Government Oversight, tells Missourinet that if the scenario happens again, he’ll want MoDOT to testify before the committee.

MoDOT helds its annual winter operations drill on November 7, four days before the storm. They reacted to a simulated forecast of significant snow for the entire state and inspected every piece of equipment.

The agency spent more than $64 million on winter operations last year and used more than 180,000 tons of salt, 100,000 gallons of liquid calcium chloride and about 700,000 gallons of beet juice. MoDOT says that during an average winter, its employees plow about six million miles of snow and ice.

Here is the full statement from MoDOT’s St. Louis District office, in response to the Missourinet interview with Representative Schroer:

Thank you for reaching out to MoDOT following your interview with State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, during which shared concerns with MoDOT’s response to last week’s winter storm.

Safety is our number 1 priority. MoDOT has hundreds of dedicated employees in St. Louis working hard to keep roads safe and passable. State employees were out all day Monday, November 11th, working the winter event including plowing and spreading salt. It is difficult to use salt in an effective way when storms start as rain/sleet and strike during times of heavy traffic volumes. The November 11th event had warm enough ground temperatures to melt all the snow that fell, washing off the salt that was applied early in the day. Although the weather forecasts said it would end midday, an additional wave of snow came around 2 p.m. after the first snow had melted and washed off the salt. When the winds brought a significant drop in temperature, all routes across St. Louis started freezing at the same time which coincided with the start of evening rush hour.

MoDOT’s trucks were treating roads all day. Winter events like Monday can present extreme challenges, especially when you have winter precipitation during rush hour. Specific to Representative Schroer’s area in St. Charles County, there were a couple significant crashes on I-70 and Rte 364 that MoDOT trucks were caught in. When MoDOT trucks are stuck in traffic, it limits our ability to continue treating roads and getting to all the state owned roads.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Severe storms and brief tornadoes possible across Missouri tonight (AUDIO)

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The National Weather Service (NWS) is warning that much of Missouri could see severe weather Tuesday evening, into the early morning hours.

The National Weather Service is warning that severe thunderstorms and brief tornadoes are possible across Missouri tonight (November 26, 2019 map courtesy of NWS St. Louis Twitter)

Southeast Missouri towns like Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau, Caruthersville and Kennett are now at an enhanced risk.

NWS Pleasant Hill meteorologist Scott Blair describes it as a dynamic storm system that we normally see in the spring.

“Western Missouri, we’re looking at sometime around or just a little after sunset,” Blair says. “And that threat will quickly progress to the east as we head into the late evening and early overnight hours.”

Most of Missouri is in the “slight” risk category. Cities is that category include Columbia, Jefferson City, Kirksville, Hannibal, Springfield, Joplin and West Plains. Blair says those areas could see strong thunderstorms with winds capable of producing a brief tornado.

“The good news though is that if there happens to be any tornadoes, we’re not looking at the real long track strong or violent type. This is going to be more of a brief type of tornado out there,” says Blair.

45 mile-per-hour winds are expected across the state tonight. The biggest threat in much of the state will be damaging wind gusts.

The NWS says the storms will be moving fast.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Scott Blair, which was recorded on November 26, 2019:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Federal grant to address severe water shortage, some road issues in northeast Missouri

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The U.S. Department of Labor has given Missouri a federal grant to address some infrastructure problems in northeast Missouri. Milan has received a $13.5 million federal grant to handle severe water shortages the town has been dealing with for years. At a press conference, Gov. Mike Parson says a drought earlier this year in the Milan area caused some severe water problems. The funding will be used on the East Locust Creek Reservoir Project.

Gov. Mike Parson

“Up in that region, the town up there, was like 60 some odd days from running out of water up there,” says Parson. “So, to build this reservoir up here and to be able to change the highway structure and the infrastructure around that is huge for the state of Missouri.”

Parson thinks the federal funding will clear up the infrastructure issues.

“Everybody understands how important water is up there,” says Parson. “We’ve got to figure out how we build that reservoir out to make sure to meet the demands up there. You never dream about, when you become governor, that you’re going to realize that some town in the state of Missouri is 60 days from running out of water. That means businesses, that means plants, that means schools, everything is going to be shut down. So, that was really a reality check.”

The grant will also be used to relocate Highway N to below the East Locust Creek Reservoir dam, extending and widening roads, and other highway safety improvements.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

$28 million University of Missouri Plant Growth Research Center opens

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The University of Missouri has opened a new $28 million state-of-the-art center housing research greenhouses and cutting-edge, controlled-environment plant growth chambers in Columbia. From droughts to floods to monsoons, the more than 9,000 square feet for controlled environment growth chambers enable researchers to simulate climate conditions from all over the world to study their impacts on crops. Scott Brown, with the University of Missouri, says the new site is a much-needed improvement.

Photos courtesy of the University of Missouri

“So a chance to have some new greenhouse space to make sure our plant science researchers can do the cutting-edge research that they need,” says Brown.

The site contains some of the tallest growth chambers in the world that can accommodate the full 12-foot growth height of corn. Brown thinks the research will involve all sorts of crops.

“I think it’s going to be across the board and in fact, we’re looking at a number of researchers bidding on the opportunity to have greenhouse space in this new facility,” says Brown. “So, we’ll see how it unfolds moving forward.”

The East Campus building has 24 greenhouse units.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Winter storm briefly closes interstate in western Missouri (AUDIO)

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Winter weather briefly closed heavily-traveled southbound I-49 in western Missouri’s Belton on Monday morning, because of numerous slide offs and unsafe driving conditions.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in St. Louis is warning about deteriorating conditions on bridges and overpasses (November 11, 2019 map courtesy of NWS St. Louis Twitter)

National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Jonathan Kurtz notes it’s rare for a storm to close an interstate.

“It happens from time to time when you get these pretty strong intense bursts of snow,” Kurtz says. “And we have had two rounds here in the Kansas City metro, and two pretty strong lines have come through.”

I-49, which has re-opened, is a major route for truckers, and runs in Missouri from just south of Kansas City to southwest Missouri’s McDonald County.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) spokeswoman Sally Oxenhandler tells Missourinet that southbound I-49 at 163rd Street in Cass County was closed for about 20 minutes today.

Kurtz says conditions on the interstate quickly deteriorated.

“I-49 was only closed for a little bit of time there due to some slick roads there,” says Kurtz. “And snow started to accumulate pretty fast. Once it started hitting the ground, it only took about 20 to 30 minutes for the road to start to get snow-covered.”

Missouri state troopers responded to several slide-offs on Highway 50 in western Missouri’s Knob Noster on November 11, 2019 (photo from Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd)

The National Weather Service is warning Missourians that the snow and falling temperatures will lead to deteriorating conditions on bridges and overpasses for your evening commute. Mr. Kurtz is urging motorists to slow down.

“My drive in was pretty slick as well, and you just have to give yourself plenty of time. And we can kind of be thrown off, especially when the day before we had highs in the 50’s,” Kurtz says.

Snow is expected to end in Jefferson City by 4 p.m. Monday and in southeast Missouri’s Farmington by 6 p.m. The NWS is urging motorists and anyone heading outside to dress in layers.

Northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph has received about an inch of snow, while mid-Missouri’s Columbia has seen about an inch as well. There’s an inch-and-a-half on the ground in northeast Missouri’s Foley.

Several schools in mid-Missouri and in the Ozarks have dismissed early because of the storm. Westminster College in mid-Missouri’s Fulton has also dismissed classes early.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Jonathan Kurtz, which was recorded on November 11, 2019:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Tornado-damaged Missouri prison gets 4,000 tourists in October

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Missouri State Penitentiary was once the largest prison in the state, with more than 5,300 inmates in the 1930s. (Photo courtesy: Missouri Division of Tourism)

The Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau says about 3,900 people toured the old Missouri State Penitentiary in the Capital City last month. In 2018, nearly 4,100 people toured the prison during October.

Tours were put on hold for about four months because of a tornado in May damaging parts of the prison. October was the opening month of ghost and history tours since the break and can be a popular time for Halloween fans to visit.

Modified tours are being offered since the EF-3 tornado struck parts of the prison. They include access to housing units one and three and the old gas chamber, where 40 Missouri inmates were executed between 1937 and 1989. MSP, which was known as the “Bloodiest 47 Acres in the United States”, housed high-profile inmates like James Earl Ray and boxer Sonny Liston.

Brittney Mormann with the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau tells Missourinet the CVB has lost $308,000 in revenue during the time that tours were not offered.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Heavy rain heading to far southern Missouri; forecasters warn of possible flooding (AUDIO)

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The National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield says far southern Missouri towns could see two to three inches of rainfall by Thursday morning.

The National Weather Service in Springfield says heavy rainfall is expected overnight in far southern Missouri (map courtesy of NWS Springfield Twitter page)

NWS Springfield warning coordination meteorologist Steve Runnels says Branson, Gainesville and West Plains could see three inches of rain.

“We’re going to see just a ton of rainfall coming out of Oklahoma moving into the southern part of Missouri during the course of the evening into the overnight hours,” Runnels says. “It’s something that’s kind of unusual for this time of the year.”

Runnels says prolonged rain could cause low-lying areas to flood, and warns about possible flooding after dark.

“People that are traveling along Highway 60 and on south should be anticipating very heavy rainfall starting sometime mid to late evening and lasting into the nighttime hours,” says Runnels.

Runnels says far southwest Missouri’s Anderson will also see heavy rainfall. Further north, Springfield and Nixa are expected to receive at least an inch of rain.

Click here to listen to the full two-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and National Weather Service (NWS) Springfield warning coordination meteorologist Steve Runnels, which was recorded on November 6, 2019:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Northwest Missouri route reopens to traffic, again

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The route to Rulo has reopened, once again. Missouri Department of Transportation officials report U.S. Route 159 from Route 111 at Big Lake across the Missouri River to Rulo, Nebraska has reopened after floodwaters had closed it a second time.

Floodwaters heavily damaged the Little Tarkio Creek Bridge/MoDOT photo

Work to replace the Little Tarkio Creek Bridge at Fortescue on U.S. Route 159 will likely not be completed until spring.

Now, both vital links between northwest Missouri and southeast Nebraska have reopened after being closed for much of the year due to the widespread and recurring flooding. Highway 136 to the north of U.S. Route 159 reopened about two weeks ago, reopening the route to Brownville, Nebraska cut off since March 15th.

MoDOT completed a work-around of the heavily flood damaged Little Tarkio Creek Bridge in September only to see floodwaters rise again, overflow the Big Lake area, and again shut down the route being reopened for only 16 days.

MoDOT Thursday reopened Route 111, Lake Shore Drive, along Big Lake between U.S. Route 159 and Route 118. March floods closed both routes. Contractor Phillips Hardy worked with MoDOT to complete extensive repairs to both routes in late April.

When flooding receded earlier this week, crews returned to U.S. Route 159 to complete shoulder and roadway repairs. Crews removed debris and made small repairs to Route 111 when floodwaters receded two days ago.

For more information on flood recovery, click here for MoDOT’s special flood web page.

By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph