Road conditions have seen strong improvement in and around Emporia during the daylight hours. However; residents, especially early-morning commuters should still be prepared for less-than-ideal conditions once the sun goes down.
According to Emporia Police Captain Ray Mattas, major arterial travel has become much smoother Tuesday, just 24 hours after two-plus inches of snowfall fell across the community Monday.
The majority of side streets are still heavily snowpacked and slick leading Mattas to urge residents to continue taking their time and not trying to rush their travel.
Wind chill warnings, in place since late last week, expired at noon Tuesday with temperatures set to reach around 30 degrees by Wednesday. The warmup won’t be long-lived, however, as Thursday night’s low is forecasted around zero with wind chills approaching -30, and Friday possibly reaching a high of 10 degrees with wind chills of -10 or lower through the day. High temperatures get back to the 30s by Sunday.
The extreme cold has led to various schedule adjustments over the past several days.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for more weather updates as they develop.
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.
5:30 am Tuesday:
Harsh winter cold in place since Friday will finally start moderating Tuesday, but the relief apparently won’t last long.
USD 253 Emporia Superintendent Allison Anderson-Harder discussed winter weather decision-making processes on KVOE’s Morning Show recently. Anderson-Harder used last Monday’s situation, which involved heavy, drifting snow, as an example — starting with constant checks of the weather forecast, the upcoming schedule and decisions of nearby schools and higher education.
Anderson-Harder and members of the Transportation Department also drive the district to check road conditions.
Once a decision is made, Landgren says it’s important to get the word out quickly across numerous platforms.
Road conditions were an issue areawide Monday afternoon through the evening hours as a fluffy, 2-inch snowfall caused a lot of blowing and drifting. Emporia Police Sgt. Dominick Vortherms:
Seth Snyder of the Lyon County Highway Department says county crews made some significant headway in clearing county roads Sunday after roads were continuously drifting shut due to the combination of thick snow and heavy wind gusts. That being said, Snyder reports Monday’s snowfall did create some setbacks.
Area highway conditions vary from seasonal, meaning isolated to widely scattered snow and ice, to completely snow-covered.
Local heating-related businesses have been busy. According to Modern Air Owner Travis Sullivan, over the weekend employees were putting in between 13-18 hour days with right around 80 calls placed for service by 8 am Monday alone.
Sullivan says it is important that if you notice your heating system may not be running correctly to not wait to call for help.
For city operations, asides from closing a few locations, namely the David Traylor Zoo, the frigid cold has not had any major impacts according to Emporia City Manager Trey Cocking. Some communities have had to issue water related advisories due to a high level of usage or damage from the brutal cold in recent days.
So far, Cocking says the city’s system is handling the cold front well and there has only been a slight uptick in water use recently, likely due to residents running their pipes to keep them from freezing. He encourages residents to let their faucets drip during the “peak coldness hours” of the night to help prevent any damage to their plumbing.
Cocking adds there have been no impacts to major city projects, namely the annual street rehabilitation effort, however, this is the time of year when city streets see the most damage due to the freezing and unfreezing cycle. If residents notice any issues developing with city streets, namely cracks or potholes developing, Cocking asks them to call the city’s main line 620-343-4259 and report them as soon as possible.
Temperatures should climb to 14 Tuesday afternoon as wind chill warnings finally end at noon, and we should get to 33 Wednesday. Thursday night’s low will be zero with wind chills approaching -30, and Friday will struggle to a 10-degree high with wind chills -10 or lower through the day. High temperatures get back to the 30s by Sunday.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for more weather updates as they develop.
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.
