House Majority Leader Dean Plocher Archives

Missouri Senate cancels session all week due to snow and ice; winter storm warning continues in Bootheel

February 15, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

The statewide winter storm hitting the Show-Me State has caused the Missouri Senate to cancel session for this week in Jefferson City.

The Senate and House had already canceled session for Monday, due to the snowstorm and the dangerously cold temperatures.

Missouri Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) speaks before Governor Parson’s State of the State Address on January 27, 2021 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, tweeted an update today that the Missouri Senate will not be in session this week.

“With additional snow and ice in the forecast for much of the state, we want to be sensitive to the safety of our staff and members. Next week’s forecast looks great – excited to get back to JC (Jefferson City) and get back to work,” Leader Rowden tweeted.

House Majority Leader Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, tells Missourinet the House will not be in session on Tuesday, due to the winter weather. All Missouri House committee hearings scheduled for Tuesday are now canceled.

For now, the Missouri House has hearings scheduled for Wednesday.

A winter storm warning remains in effect for southeast Missouri until tonight. That’s a region where residents are still trying to recover from last week’s two-day ice storm.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Paducah office says the highest snow totals are in rural Ripley County’s Oxly, which has already seen six inches of snow. Poplar Bluff and the Bootheel towns of Kennett and Malden have seen four to six inches of snow.

The winter storm warning across the southern Missouri Ozarks has expired, but travel remains difficult.

The NWS Springfield office says southwest Missouri’s Joplin has seen five inches of snow. Springfield has received four inches, while three to four have fallen in Lebanon.

In southern Missouri’s Salem, there’s been five inches of snow. Missourinet Salem affiliate KSMO reports snow drifts of about a foot are blowing against buildings. KSMO reports ice has refrozen under the snow.

The NWS Springfield office also notes more snow is expected across the Ozarks from Tuesday night through Thursday. The heaviest snow will be near the Missouri-Arkansas border, where Branson and West Plains should see four to six inches of additional snowfall.

Snow forces Missouri House and Senate to cancel Monday session; Rowden emphasizes safety

February 14, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A winter storm in Missouri that began Sunday and will continue into Monday has caused state legislative leaders in both chambers to cancel session for Monday in Jefferson City.

Missouri Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, presides over the Senate in Jefferson City on March 4, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Senate Communications)

Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, announced Sunday on Twitter that because of brutal cold weather and potential for snow accumulation, the Missouri Senate will not be in session on Monday. Rowden also says the Senate will take the rest of the week one day at a time, to keep people safe.

Snow is expected in much of Missouri, including Jefferson City, throughout the week.

Leader Rowden tells Missourinet that Senate committees will not meet on Monday either.

As for the 163-member Missouri House, Majority Floor Leader Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, tells Missourinet the House will not be in session on Monday.

All Missouri House committee hearings originally scheduled for Monday are now canceled, and will be rescheduled for sometime this week.

The National Weather Service in Paducah has issued a winter storm warning for southeast Missouri (February 14, 2021 graphic courtesy of NWS Paducah Twitter)

A winter storm warning is in effect for much of eastern and southeast Missouri.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Paducah says towns like Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Kennett and Malden could see a total of six to 12 inches of snow, by Monday.
That region is still trying to recover from last week’s two-day ice storm, which closed schools and shut down heavily-traveled I-57 near Sikeston for a time.

The NWS in St. Louis says road conditions are still poor across a majority of the state, adding that roads have been deteriorating in Missouri from west to east.

Monday is Washington’s Birthday, which is a federal, Missouri and county holiday. While it’s a state holiday, the Legislature planned to be in session, until the snowstorm.

Most state employees will be off on Monday, which will keep several thousand cars off the road. More than 14,000 state employees work in Cole County, making state government Jefferson City’s largest employer.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol will be working on Monday, and crews from the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) will continue to treat and plow roads.