Midwest braces for winter storm

Thursday, February 21, 2013

— Hundreds of snowplows and salt spreaders took to the highways of the nation’s heartland Wednesday preparing for a winter storm that was forecast to dump up to a foot of snow in some areas and pelt others with dangerous freezing rain and sleet.

Winter-storm warnings were issued from Colorado through Illinois. By midday Wednesday, heavy snow was falling in Colorado and western Kansas.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said parts of Colorado, Kansas and northern Missouri could get 10-12 inches of snow. Dodge City, Kan., was bracing for up to 16 inches. Farther south, freezing rain and sleet could make driving treacherous.

Officials feared the winter storm would be the worst in the Midwest since the Groundhog Day blizzard in 2011. A two-day storm that began Feb. 1, 2011, was blamed for about two dozen deaths and left hundreds of thousands without power, some for several days. At its peak, the storm created whiteout conditions so intense that Interstate 70 was shut down across the entire state of Missouri.

“We’re not going to see that type of storm, but it’s certainly the most impactful in the last two winters,” said Gosselin, who works in suburban St. Louis.

Tim Chojnacki, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said salt trucks would be on the roads before the storm arrived in hopes that the precipitation would largely melt upon impact.

Gosselin said sleet and freezing rain could make areas like St. Louis, southern Missouri and parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas more dangerous than those with heavy snowfalls.

“Sleet is no fun to drive on,” Gosselin said. “Especially if you get a couple of inches, which could happen. It doesn’t melt, and it’s very heavy to move. It’s difficult to shovel, you can’t really plow it, and the chemicals don’t work as well.”

Front Section, Pages 2 on 02/21/2013