The Kansas Department of Transportation road conditions map on Monday night showed considerable improvement of road conditions in the metro area; many highways were closed on Sunday following the snowstorm. The condition of highways in Linn County (see map below right) remained ice packed at 9 p.m. on Monday. (KDOT)
By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com
Highs in the teens and sunshine on Monday assisted crews in clearing many of the major traffic arteries, particularly in the Kansas City area, after a major ice and snow storm over the weekend led to those same highways shut down.
In Linn County, most of the state highways and U.S. Highway 69 remained covered, now mostly with ice. However, to the south in Bourbon County, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) reported that roads were clear.
Slick back roads and near-zero morning temperatures (with wind-chill readings expected to be as much as 10 below, prompted all three Linn County school districts to cancel classes for Tuesday. However, another day of sun and highs near 20 degrees should allow road crews to make progress on clearing paved roads.
Whether or not school bus routes of unpaved roads will be clear enough to hold school on Wednesday might be another question. Another factor on gravel roads has been trees downed by the ice storm.
The Linn County Sheriff's Office posted an online notice on Monday afternoon that roads in the area remained slick and urged residents to drive with caution, particularly at night.
"Linn County Deputies are reporting that road conditions continue to be very hazardous," the notice read. "Roads are snow packed with a layer of ice under the snow pack. Center and edge lines are not visible on most roadways making travel in the dark more dangerous.
"The Sheriff's Office recommends not to travel unless its an emergency. The Sheriff's Office will attempt to keep the public updated on the travel conditions."
Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative reported at 9 p.m. on Monday that 120 customers were still without power. Outages in southern Linn County prompted the county's Emergency Management office to open warming shelters in Blue Mound and Prescott on Sunday. (Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative outage map)
For the most part, the area dodged the bullet of across-the-board power outages that the predicted half-inch of ice could have called. Forecasts called for freezing rain through most of the day on Sunday, but instead sleet and snow fell Saturday night across much of Linn County lessening the impact of the ice.
By Monday evening, most of the power outages had been addressed, however, Heartland Rural Electric Co-operative's outage map showed that 120 customers south of Mound City were still affected as of 9 p.m. on Monday.
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