As winter storm leaves metro-east, what’s ahead for Tuesday?
The heaviest snowfall has moved out of the St. Louis area, but there could be another 2 inches at most before the winter storm is over Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
As much as 6.5 inches of snow has already fallen in the metro-east since Sunday, according to the agency’s St. Louis office. Light snowfall is possible early Tuesday, adding 1 to 2 inches more inches.
On Monday night, the temperature is expected to drop to 21 degrees, and wind gusts could reach 22 mph. A winter storm warning from the National Weather Service is in effect until midnight.
The condition of rural roads and the potential for freezing overnight is the reason some schools decided to cancel classes again Tuesday after students’ snow day on Monday. Among the school systems to announce cancellations were Belleville District 201, Belle Valley District 119, East St. Louis District 189 and O’Fallon districts 203 and 90.
The Illinois Department of Transportation stated on social media that it has had snow plows on the roads continuously since the winter storm began Sunday. The plows were prioritizing primary roadways, interstates and highways before turning to secondary streets, according to the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency.
Between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, the Illinois State Police were called to 40 car crashes on the highways, according to State Police District 11 Trooper Joshua Korando. Snowfall rates of up to 2 inches per hour continued to make driving hazardous throughout the day Monday. Multiple roads had been closed, including northbound Interstate 55 at I-70 in south St. Louis and eastbound Illinois 161 at Illinois 159 in Swansea. Both roads had reopened by 4 p.m.
Tuesday is expected to bring a high near 32 degrees. The National Weather Service predicts it will be mostly sunny. Hazardous conditions were not expected on Tuesday or for the rest of the week as of Monday evening’s forecast.
For the latest changes in the forecast, visit the National Weather Service’s website at weather.gov. The Belleville News-Democrat will continue covering weather conditions in the metro-east.
BND reporter Hana Muslic contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 6:32 PM.
