Heavy Snow in Missouri, March 13 to 14, 1999

A major snowstorm dumped 12 to 15 inches of snow over parts of southeast Missouri. The precipitation fell mainly as rain near the Bootheel, so little if any snow was reported from New Madrid to Charleston. There was a sharp division between heavy snow and no snow at all. Only one county to the northwest of New Madrid, 5 to 7 inches of snow fell from Dexter and Bloomfield to Benton. The jackpot of snow totals extended from Perryville and northern Cape Girardeau County to Greenville in Wayne County. In this area, where the rain changed to snow the soonest, around 14 inches of wet snow fell. Snowfall rates were 1 to 2 inches per hour for several hours. This overtaxed the ability of most road crews to keep up with removal efforts. Relatively few travel problems were reported, mainly because the storm occurred on a Sunday morning, a time of relatively light traffic flow. Those vehicles that were on the roads encountered treacherous conditions. Several accidents occurred in Cape Girardeau. Some vehicles became stuck in drifts in areas that received a foot or more of snow. Many school systems, including Cape Girardeau, were closed the day after the storm. Many businesses were closed. Rapidly warming temperatures melted the snow quickly within 48 hours.