A major winter storm is headed our way. The National Weather Service is predicting that southern Missouri could get up to 14 inches of snow.
The Missouri Department of Transportation held a media briefing Thursday afternoon to let people know about what to expect from the approaching winter weather.
Captain Scott White with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said the snow and extreme cold will create a dangerous situation.
“We want the public to hear one consistent message from all of us and that is that this weather has the potential to be life threatening if people are not prepared,” he said.
Melissa Delia of the National Weather Service said that significant winter precipitation will come in two rounds this weekend.
The first round will begin Friday evening and continue until Saturday evening, which will include sleet and snow across southern Missouri, she said. The second round of precipitation will start early Sunday morning and last throughout the day, consisting entirely of heavy snowfall, according to Delia.
White urged people to stay home.
“Let me leave you with this final message from the patrol. No appointment, no errand, and no activity is worth risking your life or risking the lives of others or any of us," he said. "The safest decision for everybody is to prepare, and if you don’t need to be on the road, stay put until this event is over.”
White said that if driving is absolutely necessary, travelers should check their vehicles and have a winter survival kit with them in the event of an emergency.
MoDOT Director Ed Hassinger said they started mobilizing their team and planning for the storm on Wednesday and that they would be fine tuning their plan over the next 24 hours.
He said there will be fairly significant impacts across the state, and that most people in Missouri will be impacted.
As precipitation starts to fall, Hassinger said MoDOT's team will be fully deployed across the state, "3,000 folks working two shifts a day until this is back to near normal conditions."
He also urged people to avoid travel and to give his team the ability to work so they can get the roads clear.
Michele Skalicky contributed to this story.