Winter Weather, Perry
- When
- January 15, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
- Where
- Perry forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 37.707, -89.824 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Snow developed along an Arctic cold front as it sliced southeast across southeast Miissouri during the morning hours. As the front slowed down over the Tennessee Valley late in the day, a weak surface low developed on the front.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.
Snow developed along an Arctic cold front as it sliced southeast across southeast Miissouri during the morning hours. As the front slowed down over the Tennessee Valley late in the day, a weak surface low developed on the front. This caused snow to persist along and south of U.S. Highway 60 through the evening hours. The result was an area of heavy snowfall from Doniphan east to Sikeston and Charleston southward, where 4 to 8 inches was reported. A few heavy snowfall reports included 8.5 inches at East Prairie (Mississippi County), 7 inches at Charleston, and 5 inches at Poplar Bluff. Across the remainder of southeast Missouri, including Cape Girardeau and Perryville, amounts ranged from 1 to 3 inches. Visibility was frequently reduced below one mile in the heavy snowfall area. Much of the snow melted on treated road surfaces during the day, but conditions rapidly deteriorated after dark as temperatures dropped through the 20's. Actual air temperatures fell into the teens as the snow ended. These cold temperatures reduced the effectiveness of road salt, which slowed recovery efforts in the wake of the storm. Scattered traffic accidents were reported, including the Cape Girardeau area. The new snowfall on top of snow from the January 12th storm raised total snow depths to near a foot in the heavy snowfall area.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 15, 3:42 AM CST, 18 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 heavy snow, 5 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, January 2018
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 728772, 728771, 728773, 728774, 728775, 733359, 733361, 733362, 733363, 733365, 733364.