‘Stay home if you can’, Sheriff Randee Kaiser urges caution on the roads

While Tuesday’s snowfall totals underperformed expectations, areas around the metro got between 5-7 inches of light, fluffy, blowing snow.

This combined with dangerously cold wind chills continues to create a dangerous situation on the roads.

Jasper County Sheriff Randee Kaiser says if you can stay home, please do so. “There’s still a lot of snowpack on the roads and it’s in some places a pretty dense snowpack. But I’ll tell you what, the real danger now is this extreme cold temperatures. So if you end up in the ditch, you’re not going to be in really great shape with these cold temperatures.”

While crews are continually working on clearing every roadway, that takes time and the snow won’t melt until Saturday, at best.

Sheriff Kaiser has some tips if you do plan on being out and about. “If you have to get out, my recommendation is that you make sure you have a fully charged phone, you have some blankets, you have to make sure that somebody knows when you’re leaving and when you’ll arrive at your destination if you absolutely have to get out. But unless it’s a, you know, honestly unless it’s an emergency or a very, very urgent situation, I would not recommend even trying to get out in this.”

A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect through noon Thursday with very cold wind chills as low as 20 below expected.

Kaiser says his team is ready to help with crashes and slide offs but its best to avoid travel if you can work from home.

“If by some chance it is really urgent that you get out, make sure you take those appropriate precautions. Obviously, at a minimum, you’re probably going to want to double your amount of travel time. Make sure that you’re prepared and make sure somebody knows when you’re leaving and can check in on you when you get there. So that made sure you made it okay,” said Kaiser.

“But honestly, there’s not any roads in Jasper County or the interstates for that matter that I would consider very navigable right now. They are really super slick, with a lot of snowpack. And it’s going to be this way for a while because the cold temperatures the sun’s not going to do much to help get it melted off. So just if possible, just stay home and enjoy the day.”

Get the latest road conditions on Google Maps or Apple Maps or from MoDOT here on their website.