West Plains schools, including rural K-8 schools in addition to the R-7 district, and His Place Christian Academy will be closed today due to inclement weather forecast this morning, officials announced.
A winter weather advisory has been expanded to include Howell County, and is expected to bring wintry precipitation right as students and teachers would be arriving to school.
Also canceling in the area are schools and Head Start programs in Alton, Ava, Bakersfield, Cabool, Couch, Dora, Eminence, Gainesville, Koshkonong, Licking, Lutie, Mtn. Grove, Mtn. View-Birch Tree, Norwood, Thayer, Thornfield, Willow Springs and Winona, plus Koala Bear Daycare and Learning Centers in Ava and Gainesville, and Southwest Baptist University-Man. View.
Initially issued early Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service office in Springfield expanded the winter weather advisory at about 3 a.m. today to include Howell, Ozark and Taney counties. It remains in effect until 9 p.m. today. Drivers should plan for slippery roads and impacts to morning and evening commutes, said NWS.
The advisory cautions of mixed precipitation, with snow and sleet accumulations of up to an inch, and ice around a tenth of an inch.
As of about 6:45 a.m., with the temperature right at 32 degrees, there was fog and a slight glaze of ice coated some elevated surfaces in West Plains. According to a timeline graphic shared by the NWS at 5:20 a.m., West Plains has a 100% chance of seeing a wintry mix of precipitation at 9 a.m., which is expected to convert to a 75% chance of rain around noon.
“For counties close to the southern border, a quick round of freezing rain will quickly transition to rain, limiting impacts to just as the freezing rain is falling,” said meteorologists in a weather packet issued this morning. While ice accumulation will vary based in any temperature change within a degree or two, NWS notes the greatest uncertainty in temperature forecasts lies along and south of U.S. 60. As of the weather packet’s issuance, West Plains’ temperature is expected to stay at 32 degrees until about noon, when a two-degree warmup is expected as the temperature ultimately reaches its forecast peak of 35 degrees.
With temperatures dropping to 19 degrees overnight, any moisture still on the ground from today’s precipitation should be expected to refreeze.
