Slick and snow-packed roadways should give way to much smoother conditions Wednesday, especially within the city of Emporia.
That’s according to Emporia Public Works Director Dean Grant who tells KVOE News crews wrapped up clearing and treatment efforts in the afternoon hours Tuesday and do not anticipate having to go back out in the late evening to overnight hours.
The majority of highways in the listening area remain slick and snow-covered. That list includes Interstate 35 which saw traffic come to a complete standstill between Beto Junction and Lebo due to a jackknifed semi.
Traffic resumed in the area right around 5:45 pm.
The Kansas Turnpike is mostly clear with some seasonal driving conditions being reported.
Local roadways weren’t the only thing impacted by the inclement weather as the combination of snow and wind led to a number of power outages that knocked out power to around 2,500 Evergy customers and close to 300 4 Rivers customers at one time. Evergy’s outage map still shows a handful of outages in Emporia and further to the south in Olpe, Madison and Hamilton as well as one outage in Hartford.
Each of those outages is affecting fewer than five customers. KVOE’s list of closings and cancelations remains lengthy heading into Wednesday.
Click here for the KVOE.com Closings and Cancellations page.
10:20 am Tuesday: WEATHER: Drifting, slick travels ongoing; Phase 2 crash reporting procedures return for Emporia
Accumulating snowfall looks to be over, but travel issues may well persist all day across the KVOE listening area.
Most of the 6-inch snowfall at the KVOE studios Monday into early Tuesday came with temperatures at or above freezing, so that snowfall was heavy and wet — leaving a layer of ice for many major city streets. Due to the conditions, Emporia Police have reinstated Phase 2 Emergency Crash Reporting procedures. Drivers involved in non-injury crashes in the city limits can exchange insurance information at the scene of the wreck and then report details to officers at a later time.
The powdery snow that followed has made blowing and drifting more prevalent, according to Lyon County Emergency Management Director Jarrod Fell.
Drifting has been commonplace, both for lightly-traveled gravel roads and highways. Most area highways are completely snow-covered, with isolated exceptions — including Kansas Highway 177, which is closed from Cassoday north to Strong City. However, Lyon County Emergency Communications Director Roxanne Van Gundy thanked residents for recognizing the need to limit travel because of the conditions.
The combination of wind and snow has led to a host of power outages areawide. At one time, around 2,500 Evergy customers and around 300 with 4 Rivers Electric were offline. Evergy has brought in contract crews to get power restored as soon as possible, but travel issues are slowing down that process with numerous outages across Evergy’s territory.
There is a long list of schedule adjustments for the area, including all area school districts closing for the day. Click here for the KVOE.com Closings and Cancellations page.
Snow totals so far:
*KVOE studios: 6 inches snow, 0.60 inches rain
*5 miles east-southeast of Emporia: 6.4 inches snow
*3 miles northwest of Emporia: 4 inches snow
*BETO Junction: 10 inches snow
*Burlington: 6 inches
*Gridley: 7.3 inches snow
*Lake Kahola: 4-6 inches of snow. Drifts as high as 4 feet.
*Overbrook: 10.9 inches snow
*Wilsey: 9 inches snow
7 am Tuesday: Travel not recommended areawide; numerous power outages active early Tuesday due to wet snow and gusty winds
Travel is not recommended across the KVOE listening area Tuesday as a combination of heavy, wet snowfall and increasing winds are wreaking havoc on area conditions.
The KVOE studios received about 4 inches of snowfall between sunset Monday and 3 am Tuesday. Road crews have been out for most of the night, and Emporia Police Capt. Dominick Vortherms says main streets in town are in OK shape.
Side streets, however, are unplowed and slick.
Lyon County Engineer Chip Woods says the overnight focus has been on sanding paved county roads as opposed to blading them — at least until sunrise.
Most area highways are completely snow-covered, with isolated exceptions — including Kansas Highway 177, which is closed from Cassoday north to Strong City.
The combination of wind and snow has led to a host of power outages areawide:
*Over 2,000 Evergy customers are offline in and immediately around Emporia, with over 1,900 offline from Commercial Street east out of town. Stoplights at Sixth and Commercial and Sixth and Mechanic are down as of 4:30 am.
*A triangle involving Hamilton, Quincy and Virgil has almost 300 Evergy customers offline.
*Hartford has nearly 30 Evergy customers offline.
*Madison has over 20 Evergy customers offline.
*An untold number of Evergy customers in an area involving Melvern and north Coffey County are offline. The outage stretches east to Paola with almost 500 customers total involved.
*Olpe has nearly 50 customers offline
Another 300 4 Rivers customers areawide are offline.
Light snow accumulations are expected through Tuesday morning as winds increase — possibly to 50 or 55 mph at times.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates. If you have schedule adjustments — closings, cancellations, delays or postponements — to announce, call KVOE at 620-342-1400, email kvoe@kvoe.com or message the Bluestem Farm and Ranch text line at 620-342-5863. To find us on social media, look for Facebook@kvoenews, Instagram@kvoenews, YouTube@kvoenews or X@kvoeam1400.
