The ice storm that began Wednesday morning and continued intermittently throughout the day disrupted schools, caused meetings to be canceled and kept street and highway workers out all night. Today, it will get worse.
Blake Smith, meteorologist 49 News in Topeka, said this morning that the Emporia area is in a heavy snow warning through today and into Friday. Smith, who earlier had estimated eight to 14 inches of snowfall, said to expect seven to 12 inches before noon Friday.
Earlier in the week, forecasters had not expected the storm to invade this area.
“It was looking like it would be 100 miles east of where it is today,” Smith said.
The movement of the storm edged it directly into Emporia and the surrounding area.
“It’s literally just a matter of 100 miles that made all the difference,” he said. “We need the moisture of course.”
Periods of snowfall should begin to taper off around noon on Friday.
“And then the weekend is looking sunnier — right around 40 degrees on Saturday,” Smith said.
Temperatures are expected to be in the single digits or low teens overnight tonight, with highs Friday in the lower 30s, he said.
The prospect of those predicted heavy snows prompted Emporia school district Superintendent John Heim to cancel classes today. Schools here and throughout the area closed early on Wednesday and remained closed today.
Heim said that without the forecast of heavy snow, school would have been in session today.
“I think we probably could have gotten out and around,” he said, before adding that the prospect of the winter storm made the decision to close easier.
School officials realize that dismissing school early because of weather often creates difficulties for parents in getting the children home or to babysitters or having children go home to empty houses.
“We don’t want to get them into school and then not be able to have kids get home,” Heim said.
State law does not allow the district to keep schools open but not run bus routes.
“We used to do that years ago, but the law is that you have to provide transportation to school,” Heim said. “So, if you can’t provide transportation to school, you can’t have school.”
Heim said that when schools are open during inclement weather, parents always have the option of keeping their children home from school.
“If they want to keep their kids home because they think it’s too dangerous, that’s their choice,” he said. “It’s like any other excused absence.”