Snow & ice are here and more is in the forecast

ST. LOUIS -- Our winter storm has arrived. Precipitation began late Saturday night as light snow and flurries. Then transitioned to heavier sleet and a wintry mix. At times there's been more snow than sleet, but the precipitation type is going to continue to flip-flop through much of the day.

North of I-70, we are still expecting the precipitation to remain mostly snow. To the south, we're expecting an icy mix of freezing rain and some sleet. We also have some lightning in the southern portion of our viewing area. 

The accumulation forecast has not changed much. I'm still anticipating total sleet/snow accumulations in the metro in the 4" to 8" range. Higher amounts to about a 12"+ far north and ice amounts of 1/3 to 2/3" across our southern counties. We've already had reports of power outages due to the ice from Dent County into St. Francois County. 

We may see a little lull in the precipitation from midafternoon to early evening when snow will wrap back into the region. The precipitation ends as all snow from west to east tonight into early Monday morning, probably wrapping up before sunrise.

Gusty winds combined with ice accumulations to our south could cause tree limbs and powerlines to come down. It'll be windy through the afternoon and tonight. Temperatures today don't make it out of the 20s (wind chills near 10 degrees all day) and overnight lows in the teens (wind chills in the single digits). 

Arctic air lasts all week with temperatures well below freezing and near zero at times.