Road crews throughout Jefferson County faced another busy week starting Monday.
Ben Herzog, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in St. Louis, said the highest reported snowfall Monday in Jefferson County was 9.3 inches in Festus. He said 9 inches were reported in Arnold, and in Barnhart and Pevely, 8 inches of snow fell.
Herzog said more snow was expected Wednesday morning, after the Leader deadline, which likely will affect the morning rush hour.
“At this point, it looks like the (Wednesday) afternoon rush might not be too bad,” he said.
Herzog said most of Jefferson County is expected to get 1 to 3 inches of snow Wednesday morning, but the southern part of the county could see up to 4 inches.
Jefferson County Public Works Director Jason Jonas said crews were able to handle Monday’s snowfall well, thanks to some work crew members did before the winter storm swept across the county.
“We got new material down on (Feb. 13) in anticipation for it coming Sunday,” Jonas said. “We wanted to give the evening shift a shift to give the day crew a break. It really helped out, breaking up the material on the road.”
Road crews already battled frigid temperatures and a mix of snow, sleet and ice last week.
Jonas said crews worked hard to keep county roads as safe as possible Feb. 8 through Feb. 11.
“It is one of those things when you get 1 to 1 1/2 inches three days in a row, you would rather see the 4 inches all at once. You end up doing the same thing on 12-hour shifts for three days, and the guys get tired,” Jonas said. “But, they did a great job.”
Jonas said the county road crew is made up of about 82 employees who either drive one of the county’s 35 snow-removal trucks, load salt into the vehicles at one of the county’s three sheds or act as dispatchers during snowstorms.
He said they were ready for another week of frigid weather, although the wintry weather last week already had strained the department.
“The only thing that concerns me is my guys could use a night or two off so they can get a breather and a rest,” Jonas said. “It is tough when you only have a few nights between a three-day event. It is a tough time of year, and a lot of people do not see that the on-and-off shifts take a toll on the guys.”
Arnold Public Works Director Judy Wagner said she felt her department also handled the snow well, even without extra help the city had considered hiring in December to make sure enough people would be available to clear roads in the event bad weather coincided with employee absences due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
Wagner said Arnold has seven dump trucks and two pickups that can be fitted with snow removal equipment to clear streets and parking lots. She also said the city has 16 employees from the street, parks and recreation, stormwater and health departments who can operate the trucks to remove snow, and two additional parks and rec staff members who can handle snow removal from sidewalks.
“Knock on wood, we were all healthy (for the first sustained snowfalls),” Wagner said.
The mix of frigid temperatures and school and business closings because of Presidents Day kept call volumes relatively low on Monday, Jefferson County 911 Dispatch Chief Travis Williams said.
“We did have a few slide-offs and vehicle accidents, but really, it wasn’t anything out of the normal call volume for a normal day,” Williams said. “There also were a lot of businesses that closed early, and that made a difference with the amount of traffic on the road.”
Jefferson County 911 Dispatch received numerous calls last week after snow and ice made driving tricky, Williams said.
He said Feb. 8 was particularly busy.
“I would say our call volume was up about 25 percent that day,” Williams said. “A lot of those were non-injury slide-offs. There was one fatal accident.”
Jimi D. Williams, 19, of Festus died Feb. 8 following a two-car collision on Hwy. A west of Pioneer Road and east of Hillsboro during snowy and icy conditions, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported.
Williams said 911 Dispatch was prepared to handle another few days of increased call volume this week.
He also said those who must travel when there’s snow and ice should leave early and drive slowly.
“I would say be prepared for the worst and hope for the best,” he said.
Williams also warns people to be careful about how they heat their homes, adding that the department typically fields numerous calls for fires when temperatures fall below freezing.
“I just want to remind everyone with these cold temperatures to make sure their furnaces are up to par and to be careful with how they heat their homes,” Williams said. “We tell people to use space heaters as little as possible and to be careful with how they do use them.”
Enough salt
Jonas and Wagner said the county and Arnold are well stocked with salt for the rest of the winter.
Jonas said the county started the winter season with about 20,000 tons of salt to cover the 750 miles of road the county Public Works Department is responsible for keeping clear.
“Last I checked we had only used 15 percent of the stockpile before (Feb. 8),” Jonas said. “We couldn’t be down to any lower than two thirds remaining. We have plenty of stock to get us through the winter. That is largely because we didn’t have anything in December or January.”
Wagner said Arnold had 3,000 tons of salt at the start of winter, and the city only used about 300 tons during last week’s snow.
“The dome still has enough for the next two months of weather,” Wagner said.