Ice storm falls short of dire forecasts

In this Jan. 15, 2017 photo, tiny icicles hang from a tree branch after an ice storm in the Midwest.
In this Jan. 15, 2017 photo, tiny icicles hang from a tree branch after an ice storm in the Midwest.

While Winter Storm Jupiter did wreak havoc in some parts of Missouri, the central portion of the state was spared any real damage.

"The good news was that temperatures started to rise about freezing Sunday morning," National Weather Service meteorologist Charley Kelly said in St. Louis. "We let the ice storm warning expire Sunday afternoon and the temperatures should stay above freezing for the next several days so any ice that did fall should be gone soon."

Kelly said in looking at observer reports, most locations in Mid-Missouri had a tenth to two-tenths an inch of ice from this storm.

"When you get a quarter-inch of ice or less the weaker tree limbs will be affected, but it's when you get the half-inch or more of ice that the bigger trees and power lines start to be affected," he said. "This storm also didn't have much wind with it and that decreased any chances of power lines and trees falling over if they had ice cover."

Kelly also said the ground temperatures stayed above freezing during the storm and that was due to the warm weather prior to Jupiter coming in.

"On Thursday, when some places neared 70 degrees for a high, the ground temperature was in the 40s and it stayed in the mid-30s through the storm," he said.

Just as emergency management and public works officials said throughout the storm, Kelly credited residents heeding early warnings about the potential dangers of the icy weather.

"Their staying off the roads helped keep things open for the folks that had to be out there," he said. "Had that not happened it could have been a lot worse."

Kelly said we probably won't see anything like Jupiter in the immediate future. The weather through the end of this week calls for above normal temperatures, some days even hitting 60 degrees.

"Welcome to Missouri," he laughed.