Missouri officials warn of road dangers as harsh winter weather moves in

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Public safety offices across the Show Me State warned residents to stay off the roads Saturday.

"If the precipitation hasn't started in your area, it's coming, and conditions will change quickly," the Missouri Department of Transportation said in a social media post.

The department's traveler information map showed snow and ice covered or partly covering state highways in Mid-Missouri including Interstate 70 and Highway 63.

At 7 p.m., a crew of 25 operators reported to plow priority routes in Columbia, according to the city's Facebook page. The post also said parking on first- and second-priority routes is now prohibited due to anticipated overnight snow accumulations of 2 inches or more.

The City of Fulton posted that it had crews pre-treat roads Saturday evening in preparation for the winter weather. Fulton also encouraged its residents to stay home to help road crews and emergency personnel complete their jobs safely.

Boonville established emergency snow routes in response to the weather conditions beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday. Parking is prohibited on all emergency snow routes.

The following streets established as emergency snow routes within the city are:

Main Street from Ashley Road to High Street.

Morgan Street from Fourth Street to Sixth Street.

Spring Street from Fourth Street to Sixth Street.

Sixth Street from Spring Street to Bingham Road.

Seventh Street from Spring Street to Bingham Road.

Eleventh Street from Locust Street to Sonya Drive.

Morgan Street from Sixth Street to Al Bersted Road.

Locust Street from Main Street to Eleventh Street.

Jefferson City reminded its residents to avoid parking on the street, don’t shovel snow into the street and keep trash bins away from the curb in a social media post on Friday.

Along with reminding people to stay home and keep their cars out of the streets, the City of Centralia asked residents in a Facebook post to also move their basketball goals from the streets to make plowing them easier.

Ashland Public Works staff will begin 24-hour active operations at 10 p.m. to clear the city streets, according to a social media post. APW will remain on a 24-hour schedule until the storm has passed and all city streets are passable.

Most of Missouri remains under a winter weather warning until Monday. The National Weather Service predicts total accumulation that could end up near 10 inches in some areas.

ABC 17's Stormtrack Weather Alert Day is set to end Monday morning.