Winter Storm — De Kalb, Missouri

2019-01-11 to 2019-01-12 · De Kalb, Missouri

Event narrative

Between 8 and 10 inches of snow fell across DeKalb County, with most of it falling over the course of the first 12 hours. Light snow continued into the next day (January 12), but was fairly light, and only accounted for 1 to 2 inches.

Wider weather episode

Light rain changed over to light snow by the mid afternoon on Friday January 11. After several hours of not accumulating due to warm surface temperatures snow began to pile up shortly after sunset. While the atmosphere was certainly cold enough to produce plenty of snow it was warm enough to keep the snow to liquid ratio rather low. So, while more than 1 of liquid fell in many areas, this translated to roughly 5 to 8 inches of snow. Some of that liquid fell as rain, but the low snow to liquid ratio caused it to be a rather densely packed snow which clung to trees across the area, forming a picturesque winter wonderland. Snow continued to fall through the day on January 12, but most of the snowfall occurred through the night between January 11 and 12. Some totals in the region exceeded 12 inches, but most areas ended up with between 5 and 8 inches. At least 3 fatalities were blamed on snow covered roads and numerous other minor to moderate injuries occurred as a result of vehicle slide offs and impact.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 801862. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.