Darrell Todd Maurina
Posted: Monday, February 15, 2010 5:45 am

PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Feb. 15, 2010) — Sunday’s heavy snowfall mostly tracked south of Fort Leonard Wood and has closed the Plato R-V School District, but as of 5:30 a.m. Monday, Fort Leonard Wood had not issued any delayed reporting authorizations and no other area schools that were planning to hold classes on Monday had closed their doors due to snow. School officials in the Dixon R-I School District, Crocker R-II School District, Swedeborg R-III School District, and Richland R-IV School District have also cancelled classes.

Today is President’s Day and many governmental offices, including most at Fort Leonard Wood, were already planning to be closed. The Waynesville R-V School District is among the schools observing the President’s Day holiday, though some districts that had been scheduled to observe the holiday are planning to hold classes today due to earlier snow closures to prevent extending the school year into the summer months.

As of 5:10 a.m. Monday, Fort Leonard Wood officials report that most roads on post are in “yellow” condition, which means road conditions are considered “difficult to hazardous” and drivers should slow to 10 mph below posted limits to maintain traction and a safe stopping distance.

A few areas of Fort Leonard Wood are in considerably worse condition. While all scheduled ranges are open, Fort Leonard Wood Route 20 and most training areas are in “red” condition which means most intersections have difficult or no stopping conditions and motorists should not exceed 10 to 15 mph to avoid losing traction.

Four exceptions to the “red” condition of most training areas are Training Areas 228, 251 and 236 which are in “green” condition which means the weather poses no problems; Training Area 192 is in amber condition.

Missouri Department of Transportation personnel reported at 5:30 a.m. that all local areas of Interstate 44 from Lebanon to Rolla are partially snow-covered. Highway 17 is entirely covered by snow in most of the local area from north of Crocker to south of Success, except for a small stretch southwest of Fort Leonard Wood where it’s only partially snow-covered.

According to the Springfield office of the National Weather Service, there’s a 40 percent chance of snow showers before noon, then a chance for flurries. Skies will be cloudy, with a high temperature near 26 degrees and wind chill values as low as 4 degrees due to a northwest wind between 11 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. This evening, scattered flurries are expected before midnight with mostly cloudy skies and a a low around 19 degrees and wind chill values as low as 9 due to a northwest wind between 8 and 10 mph.

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