Rapidly dropping temperatures, patchy reports of light freezing rain and snow, and wind gusts of 30 to 40 miles per hour swept through Springfield early Thursday, slowing the normal pre-holiday bustle.
The long-promised and dangerous winter storm arrived mostly as predicted.
At 5 a.m., the National Weather Service reported a temperature of 37 degrees with overcast skies. Winds were out of the south at 8 mph.
By 9 a.m., the temperature had dropped to 14 degrees with snow falling across the city. Winds were out of the north at around 20 mph, gusting to 30 mph and MoDOT reported highways around Springfield were partly covered. In the 10 a.m. hour city trucks could be seen treating the roads. At 2 p.m. the temperature was 0, with a wind chill of 22 below zero.
The forecast called for temperatures to fall to around 1 degree by 5 p.m., and overnight lows around 6 below zero. Patchy blowing snow, perhaps 1 to 3 inches, was expected by 5 p.m. with blustery northwest winds of 15 to 23 mph, gusting to 36 mph.
Wind chill values were forecast between 25 below and 35 below zero.
In response, local officials announced the Expo Center downtown is opening for anyone needing a warm place to be — not just the unsheltered community. The center will be open from noon to 7 p.m. today, and on Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Lunch and dinner will be served. There will be a separate space for families, as well as movies and games. See complete details in this story.
The Greene County Highway Department was pretreating roads early Thursday morning in an effort to reduce slickness, according to a county press release, but officials cautioned that the frigid temperatures may impact how long it takes ice on roads to melt. Strong winds could lead to snow drifts, according to the release, particularly in the western part of Greene County.
Springfield Public Works spread salt to pretreat roadways Wednesday night and are working to clear roadways throughout the day Thursday.
For those who go outside today and Friday, the National Weather Service encourages people to wear layered clothing and limit skin exposure to the cold. People exposed to the cold for as little as 10 minutes could experience frostbite. If you have to drive, bring a flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case you get stuck on the icy roads.
City Utilities reports an outage
Springfield City Utilities reports about 49 customers are without power at Springfield Golf Course, off of East Valley Water Mill Road, where the Greens apartment complex is. The first outage report was at 12:20 p.m.
Springfield-Greene County Park Board, Community Blood Center closing facilities
The Springfield-Greene County Park Board closed all staffed facilities at noon Thursday. They will remain closed Friday, Dec. 23. All scheduled classes and programs are canceled.
A press release said facilities will reopen for holiday hours Saturday, Dec. 24. Updates will be posted on the Park Board Facebook page.
Non-staffed parks and trails remain open regular hours. The press release urged caution, as some parking lots and paths may not be cleared.
The Community Blood Center, meanwhile, is closing its donor center at 3 p.m. Thursday.
County courts, offices closing due to weather
Greene County offices, departments and circuit courts are closing Dec. 22-23 due to the weather forecast.
“This decision was not made lightly as citizens routinely need to access our properties to conduct business or seek justice, but we must consider the safety of employees and all those accessing the buildings,” Bob Dixon, Greene County presiding commissioner, said in a news release. “Please put your own safety first and that of your family and loved ones.”
More shelters opening to help unhoused residents
With the dangerous conditions in mind, Springfield’s Crisis Cold Weather Shelter committee recently mobilized to find more shelter for the city’s unhoused residents. On Wednesday, city officials released a list of available spaces in advance of the storm.
An additional space that was announced after the Daily Citizen reported on the effort to provide winter shelter space is the Foster Adopt Connect's Youth Center, 425 W. McDaniel, which on the night of Dec. 22 only will serve as a shelter for up to eight teenagers, ages 13 to 18. Those in need of shelter must check in at the center by 8 p.m. Thursday.
People in need of shelter on Thursday should come to Grace United Methodist Church at 600 S. Jefferson Ave. between 5 and 6 p.m., on Thursday. Hot meals and bus transportation will then be provided to shelters at 6:30 p.m., according to a city news release.
According to the city news release, three additional locations have agreed to serve as shelters during the winter storm, pending inspection and approval by Springfield’s Building Development Services Department and Springfield Fire Department.
Springfield-Branson National Airport staff ready for winter storm, but larger weather system will have ‘major impact’ on air travel over holidays
One of the few weather-related variables the local airport has control over is how and when to clear the runway, said Kent Boyd, spokesman for the Springfield-Branson National Airport. The airport crew has been winter ready since Oct. 1. Snowblowers are ready and plows are sharp. With a storm like the one projected to hit on Thursday, Boyd said the wildcard is the wind. It could impact when or if crews treat the tarmac with potassium acetate, a de-icer. Plunging temperatures will be a factor too. Crews will be monitoring all of that throughout the winter storm, he said.
With only a few inches of snow in Springfield’s forecast, Boyd said we may avoid airport-affecting weather locally. But the larger weather system led the airport to put out a notice to travelers that the larger winter weather system “will have a major impact” on flights across the U.S.
“This weather will likely cancel and delay many flights at airports in the Northwest, Central and Northern Plains, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region,” the notice states. “If you plan to fly to/from any of these areas over the next few days be sure to check the status of your flight often.”
Already, many airlines have waived fees to rebook or reschedule flights during the holiday travel period. Boyd encouraged people to consider those options and to download phone apps of the airlines they’re flying with to get the latest information on flight status. And he reminded people that the weather here isn’t the only factor as to whether a flight departs or arrives on time. The notice to airport customers included a handful of common factors:
“When the airport is open flights are still canceled for other reasons, including: 1) weather conditions at airports you're flying to, 2) sometimes airlines cancel flights to avoid the high cost of winter operations, 3) ice build-up on a plane may prevent takeoff, even when the runways are ice-free. This list could go on for several paragraphs, but you get the idea: flights are canceled for a lot of reasons.”
Libraries staying open, but opening later on Thursday
Springfield-Greene County Library District branches and drive-up windows will open on Dec. 22, but they will open at 10 a.m. rather than 8:30 a.m.
The district’s Mobile Library will not be running as initially scheduled on Dec. 22-23. The bookmobile and the 10 library branches will also be closed for the holidays Dec. 24-26. The library has a hotline (417-616-0620) to provide updated information on closures during this winter storm and throughout the year.
Grocery store rush on Wednesday
Just after 2 p.m. Wednesday in the full parking lot outside Harter House Supermarket on Eastgate, Cay Sergent, a retired educator, said she and her husband usually plan their grocery runs at low-traffic hours.
That wasn’t gonna happen on the eve of a severe winter storm. The Sergents, who live near Buffalo, were among dozens navigating the parking lot, and then the grocery aisles, of one of many Springfield supermarkets inundated with shoppers before Thursday’s expected winter storm and the holiday weekend.
“It’s busier,” Sergent said dryly when asked how it compared to the usual weekday afternoon shopping trip. But they got what they needed for holiday meals. Turkey, potatoes and pie are on the menu. She said they came to the store a day early due to the forecast, but all the comfort food they bought was Christmas-related.
The Sergents time in the checkout line was brief, since nearly all of the lanes were open. Managers weren’t available to talk about the pre-storm, pre-holiday rush, an employee said, because it was all hands on deck across the store.