More snow and cold

SIKESTON - Wednesday's storm brought another wintry blast to Southeast Missouri, creating havoc on the highways.

The Sikeston Power Plant, which serves as an official recording station for the National Weather Service, reported 3 inches of snow over the 24-hour period ending at 7 a.m. today.

Whiteout conditions were blamed for a pileup on Interstate 55 which shut down traffic along the roadway.

Phillip Jackson, an officer with the Portageville Police Department, reported around 11 a.m. Wednesday he was dispatched to a scene of an accident just south of the Portageville exit on Interstate 55. Jackson said the snowstorm conditions had prompted a driver in the southbound lane to slow their vehicle which was then rear-ended by a tractor-trailer.

Both vehicles ended in the median and neither driver was hurt, Jackson said.

However, as he was standing in the median, he said two other tractor-trailers were traveling about 70 to 75 miles per hour and struck each other. The trucks were damaged but neither driver hurt, according to the officer.

Then, in the northbound lane a tractor-trailer jack-knifed, blocking the interstate.

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