Monday Sees First Snowfall Accumulation of the Season
It had to happen sooner or later.
After going the entire winter with virtually no snow, a winter storm moved across the Ozarks Monday, dumping up to 5 inches on the Ava area.
The official measure recorded in Ava was 3.5 inches, as reported by Billy Long, Community Weather Involvement Program reporter.
More than 200 schools in southern Missouri canceled classes on Monday, including Ava R-1, Skyline R-2, Plainview R-8 and Ava Victory Academy.
Although conditions improved drastically overnight and into the day on Tuesday, schools canceled classes for the second day because of road conditions early in the morning.
The two days missed on Feb. 13 and 14 were the first missed this year for weather. Those days will be made up on Monday, Feb. 20, and Monday, March 19.
The varsity girls’ basketball game with Thayer was postponed Monday night and was played Tuesday night along with the varsity boys, also facing Thayer.
With Thayer scheduled here for girls and boys action on back-to-back nights, and with it being Senior Night for both teams, it was only logical to have the Thayer teams travel together, combine the varsity games and celebrate Senior Night on the same evening.
Because of the snow this week, the monthly luncheon of the Ava Area Chamber of Commerce was canceled on Tuesday. That’s because the luncheon – and the meal – was to have been hosted by the Ava R-1 Schools.
Judy Shields, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, said the luncheon will not be rescheduled.
The Ava Lions Club did hold its announced Valentines for Veterans program on Monday night. Although attendance was noticeably down, a good number turned out for the event which had ample food for a crowd twice the size.
Some 15 veterans, from World War II, Vietnam and Granada and Desert Storm attended, and each was presented a shoebox Valentine gift.
Law enforcement agencies and emergency personnel responded to the expected slips, slide-offs and falls on Monday, but no serious accidents were reported in the area, associated with the weather conditions.
The timing for this round of precipitation was just right. After a very frigid weekend, with temperatures dipping to a season low of 11 degrees in Ava, the temperatures moderated as the moisture moved into the area. The temperature actually warmed up during the early morning hours after midnight Tuesday and much of the snow was gone by Tuesday evening.
Wednesday was a cloudy, overcast day, but with temperatures still above freezing, and the warming is expected to continue into the weekend.
