Snow blasts county

Winter weather moved into the Jackson County area early this week, bringing a snowstorm that dropped five to seven inches of snow, caused school and service cancellations, postponed events and made travel treacherous for motorists in the area.

But it looks like the winter weather’s not over yet, as the National Weather Service is forecasting even more snow and bitterly cold temperatures for this weekend.

NWS initially predicted that the winter storm that arrived in northeastern Kansas on Monday morning, starting out as rain and turning into snow before noon that day, would produce anywhere from four to 10 inches of snow before the storm moved out of the area midday Tuesday.

All three schools in Jackson County — Holton, Jackson Heights and Royal Valley — canceled classes for Monday ahead of the storm, and local services such as the Jackson County Senior Center followed suit.

The first part of the snowstorm on Monday caused a few traffic slide-offs in the county, including one on Kansas Highway 16 just east of Denison that resulted in injuries to two motorists who were trapped in their vehicle when it slid off the roadway and down into a ravine, crashing into some trees.

Holton Fire Department, Jackson County EMS and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office responded to the accident, in which the two victims, Janice Smith and Harvey Smith of Denison, were pulled out of the ravine and transported to an area hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

“If you don’t need to be out on the roadways during this winter storm, then please don’t,” Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse said in the wake of the slide-off near Denison. “Road conditions across the county this afternoon have not been favorable. KDOT and Jackson County Road and Bridge have been out treating and clearing roadways. If you need to be on the roadways, please drive with caution.”

The second part of the winter storm moved into the area on Monday night and resulted in more snow-packed roads and treacherous travel well into Tuesday morning. Colder temperatures accented by wind gusts of up to 45 miles per hour made matters worse for motorists, blowing snow across or packing snow into highways on morning commutes and creating more slide-offs.

The storm also prompted the county’s three schools to shut down for a second day and forced the cancellation or postponement of Tuesday night high school basketball games. The Jackson County Courthouse also was closed on Tuesday, and the Jackson County Senior Center also remained closed for a second day. Schools and the Senior Center remained closed on Wednesday.

School board meetings scheduled for Monday night were postponed or modified. The Holton USD 336 board meeting will be held tonight (Wednesday) and the Jackson Heights USD 335 board meeting was also postponed, while the Royal Valley USD 337 board meeting was held as scheduled in person and utilizing Zoom.

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