A major winter snowstorm has left Interstate highways around the state and I-57, I-70, and I-64 in South Central Illinois, mostly covered in snow on Tuesday. The I-57 on-ramps at US 50 in Salem are now both open after several trucks and cars became stuck Monday and overnight.
US and Illinois Routes throughout the region are mostly snow-packed but passable.
Marion County Highway Engineer Mike McCormick says plows are out again Tuesday morning and now that the wind has calmed down are making good progress in pushing through drifts. He’s estimating all the county-maintained highways will be passable by noon. McCormick says the northwest corner of the county has had the most problems with drifting.
Salem and Centralia City crews are plowing Tuesday as well and clearing streets of drifts that were causing vehicles to get stuck Monday afternoon and evening.
The Salem Water Plant recorded an additional eight inches of snow from seven Monday morning through Tuesday morning. There are now 11 inches of snow on the ground. Melted precipitation totals 56-hundredths of an inch. The water plant also reports a new record low as the thermometer dropped to one degree above zero, breaking the old record of two above zero set in 2007. The temperature peaked at just 10 degrees on Monday.
