Life disrupted

By Eddie West Staff Writer

While conditions were far from ideal, the county was spared from a winter storm which threatened to paralyzed the county with heavy snow and ice.

Not to be overlooked is numerous vehicles sliding off roadways or becoming stuck in snow and ice, life-threatening cold temperatures, an abundance of slip and falls on icy surfaces as well as temporary power outages in some areas of the county.

Persistent cold temperatures (mainly below freezing) continued for more than a week as the latest in a series of arctic fronts swept through the county this past weekend.

The initial winter storm struck on Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25 where as much as two inches of snow fell where mixed with more than two inches of rain and freezing rain. 

Meanwhile, snowflakes fell again on Friday, January 30, and Saturday, January 31. One of the highest amounts of snow for this past weekend’s icy precipitation was 2.5 inches which fell in the Difficult area. Other recordings include 1.20 inches in Elmwood and .7 inches in the Brush Creek area.

The original winter storm (Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25) left many roads treacherous for days as a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain fell. During the week, there was little thawing on back-roads because of the temperature remained well below freezing. Considering the amount of precipitation which fell during the initial winter storm as well as the brutal temperatures, the severe weather event could have been much worse. 

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