ST. LOUIS — Winter-like weather slipped into the St. Louis forecast as easily as people slipped into the warmth of spring. Now nurseries, farms and transportation providers are scrambling to get ready for Tuesday.
Crews at Eckert's and Passiglia's will be staying up to keep their low-lying plants, like strawberries, watered through the cold snap.
"It's 100% effective," Chris Eckert told 5 On Your Side. "So, I'm not worried about the crop, it's just I'm worried about not getting sleep."
Eckert said precipitation doesn't play a role, it's mostly air temperatures that cause them to worry. Watering row crop will help keep the soil temperature warm enough to survive.
Growers aren't the only ones grumbling over the forecast, road crews are also annoyed with the wintry outlook. Bob Becker with MoDOT said his teams are ready for winter to be over.
"We were hoping for that, but we'll do what we have to do and will get out there," he said Monday.
Becker's planning on a quick hit. He said road temperatures are warm, so most snow and ice that comes in should quickly melt away.
The forecast sent MoDOT and IDOT scrambling to get equipment back online.
IDOT's Joseph Monroe went over their plans with 5 On Your Side.
"In the northern half of our district we are putting a few of the trucks back together, adding some plows, auger boxes and the spinners just to be safe. In the southern half of our district we're loading up our pre-treat devices to make sure what we call our 'super soakers' are ready," Monroe explained.
Over at the National Weather Service office in St. Louis, meteorologists are waiting to see how their forecasts pan out. NWS Senior Meteorologist Ben Herzog said this week could prove to be one for the St. Louis record books.
"Our records here in St. Louis go back to the 1870s and since the 1870s there have only been 11 days where there has been any snowfall at all after April 20," Herzog said.
Snow doesn't even have to be measurable for it to count as a snow day. A few flakes will check the box for the National Weather Service records.