by Sarah ThomackSt. Joseph PostThe Missouri Department of Transportation activated its winter weather procedure before Friday afternoon.A winter storm warning is in effect from 6 p.m. Friday until 6 p.m. Saturday.MoDOT Northwest District Maintenance and Traffic Engineer Tonya Lohman says, as of 1 p.m., there were already slick conditions up in the Atchison County area.“I’m grateful that a lot of the school districts let out early and sent kids on home, so hopefully they’ll all be home and safe and we don’t have to worry about buses being out there,” Lohman says. “I’m encouraging other folks, if they can, leave early and get on home and that way everybody’s in their home and we can take care of the roads when they do start turning really bad.”Lohman says if the area gets the <a href="https://stjosephpost.com/posts/5e18bb4f57544d3fe90e9531">winter storm that’s predicted</a> with snow on top of ice, she anticipates MoDOT will be out treating roads through Sunday. Lohman says, however, travel conditions should be better for the Chiefs game Sunday afternoon.“Hopefully we’ll have everything cleared off and everybody can travel safely. It’s a good thing it’s a 2 o’clock game so that will give people time to get up and leave,” Lohman says. “If you’re going to another venue, roads should be cleared off enough that you can get to your cousin’s house or the restaurant or bar that you’re going to meet friends at, that should be fine. Especially in town in St. Joe or Maryville, somewhere like that, those areas should be even more clear.”Lohman says if travel is necessary this weekend to check weather and road conditions and travel slowly and be prepared. You can find MoDOT Traveler Information Map at <a href="http://traveler.modot.org/map/index.html">modot.org/northwest</a> or through MoDOT’s smartphone app.

MoDOT cautions against driving until storm passes