Brutal cold temps headed for area; safety urged

The National Weather Service is forecasting snow late Saturday night and during the day Sunday, but even worse for Stoddard County residents will be the brutal cold temperatures that follow.

Don Seymore, Fire Chief and Emergency Management Agency Director in Dexter, said the latest word he received was that the area would get four to six inches of snow. He added that so far only a winter weather advisory had been issued, but it could turn into a warning with up to 12 inches of snow. He said a low of three below zero was forecast for Tuesday morning.

David Humphrey, a forecaster with the NWS in Paducah, Ky., said the Canadian cold-air system coming this weekend may start as rain, then turn to snow Sunday afternoon. The high temperature Sunday will be near 32 with a low of minus one degrees on Sunday night, the NWS website said.

Monday will be partly sunny with a high of 11 and northwest winds of 11 to 13 mph with gusts as high as 20 mph.

According to the special weather statement, wind chill readings will be from minus 10 to minus 20 at times, which has prompted the NWS in Paducah to issue a wind chill warming, the first ever issued by the out of Paducah.

Tuesday temperatures will warm somewhat to 16 degrees. Wednesday will bring a chance of snow and sleet with a high of 27 degrees.

Seymore said residents should be careful when using space heaters for warm parts of the house. He also cautioned about thawing water pipes using a blow torch. He recalls a cold snap in the late 1980s when firefighters were called out at 3 a.m. and worked all day Sunday fighting house fires because of actions taken by people in an attempt to stay warm.

The biggest cause of house fires during cold temperatures is space heaters, Seymore said.

"Space heaters are not designed to be plugged into an electrical extension cord," said Seymore. "People should follow the safety guidelines that come with their space heater."

Seymore also warned about getting space heaters too close to combustibles. He said he remembers a fire that started when a space heater was put too close to a plastic trash container. The container melted, and ignited a fire.

Another safety tip is that residents should never use a cook stove or oven to heat their home. He said the appliance is not designed for that, and it poses a a carbon monoxide hazard.

Seymore also urged residents to make sure their furnaces and heating systems are working properly. He also urged residents to unhook all their garden hoses prior to the start of the extremely cold temperatures. The danger of leaving the hoses hooked to the spigot on the house is that it will cause the interior water pipes to freeze, he explained. Water does not properly drain from the pipe to the spigot, and that could cause the pipe to freeze and even burst.

Seymore said there were no plans to open a heating shelter at the current time. He said it did not appear there would be power outages related to the snow on Sunday, but added that the old Junior High gym on Park Lane is the designated warming shelter if it was needed.

"Normally families take care of their own when the cold becomes this severe," said Seymore. "We will monitor the situation and be prepared to open a shelter if it is needed."

J.J. Lemmon, maintenance supervisor at the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) maintenance shed in Dexter, said U.S. 61 and Highway 25 were treated with brine on Monday this week prior to the dusting of snow that fell New Year's night. Those two roads "are priority routes."

Missouri Department of Transportation assistant maintenance engineer Stan Johnson, whose territory covers 25 counties in southeast and south-central Missouri, said the agency prioritizes roads it clears by traffic count and importance.

Salt is ordered by the ton, Johnson said, and MoDOT began the year with about 20,000 tons for the 25 counties. The state has five to six suppliers. In an average year, MoDOT spends $1.5 million on salt for this region. Johnson said that's about $75 a ton.

"We start the winter based on average usage over the past five years. We keep track of it pretty well. Again, if you have a mild winter, you're going to have some left. It's unusual for us to use as much as we did as early in the year as we did," Johnson said.

Nicole Thieret, customer relations manager with MoDOT, said roads were pretreated before the snow that fell Wednesday night and crews were out working the roads Thursday. The pretreatment is a mixture of salt brine and beet juice.

Lemmon said the Dexter shed has 200 tons of salt ready for treating roads. He said they have eight trucks with snow plows and 13 employees to work to clear the roads. He said as in the ice/snow storm in early December, crews are prepared to work seven 24-hour days when needed.

Cold safety tips

With extremely cold temperatures expected over the next few days, the Southeast Missouri Chapter of the American Red Cross offered these tips:

* Wear layers of lightweight clothing to stay warm. Gloves and a hat will help prevent body heat loss.

* Be extremely careful if you have to shovel snow. It is strenuous work, so take frequent breaks and stay hydrated.

* Seek medical attention immediately if you have symptoms of hypothermia, including confusion, dizziness, exhaustion and severe shivering.

* Watch for symptoms of frostbite, including numbness, flushed gray, white, blue or yellow skin discoloration, numbness, or waxy-feeling skin.

* Bring pets indoors. If they can't come inside, make sure they have enough shelter and that they can get to unfrozen water.

* Avoid frozen pipes. Run water, even at a trickle, to prevent them from freezing. Open the kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around plumbing. Move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals out of the reach of children. Keep garage doors closed if there are water lines in the garage.

* Keep the thermostat at the same temperature day and night, which could help avoid a costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst.

* Download the American Red Cross First Aid app for advice on what to do in case of an emergency. The free app is available on Apple iTunes.

(Southeast Missourian staff writer Ruth Campbell contributed to this story.)