Weather forecasters Thursday night saw the likelihood of maybe a dusting of snow across most of the metro-east Friday, with higher totals to the north.
But the system picked up some steam as it reached St. Louis leading to higher more precipitation than initially expected, said Melissa Byrd, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in St. Louis.
“We were expecting maybe an inch and higher amounts to the north, but as the system exits (the region) it has picked up strength,” she said. “More strength, more snow.”
As of 1 p.m. Friday, about an inch and a half was recorded in Collinsville. Two inches were measured in Belleville a half hour later.
Along Interstate 255, a BND reporter observed “white-out conditions” with a slushy white frosting over the pavement. Traffic was moving at about 40 mph. Illinois and Missouri departments of transportation live traffic maps showed slow moving on all interstates acorss the region at 1:50 p.m.
In downtown Belleville, cars moved slowly around Public Square where snow rapidly accumulated early in the afternoon.