Weather Advisory Warns of Freezing Rain During Friday's Rush Hour

The St. Louis metropolitan area is under a winter weather advisory beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and lasting through midnight.

According to the National Weather Service, there will be a light, freezing drizzle throughout the area. An icy glaze could cover the streets during the advisory, making travel potentially treacherous.

Missouri Department of Transportation spokesman Andrew Gates said motorists should be especially careful on overpasses, bridges and ramps, where ice can form even when the streets are clear.

“It’s basically the same as any other winter storm,” he said.

He said streets are being pre-treated in anticipation of the freezing rain. However, if it rains while temperatures are still above freezing, the water could wash away the chemicals, so MoDOT will continue retreating to prevent roads from becoming slick.

"We have been pretreating all day. We have been putting salt brine down on roads and bridges, especially the interstates because those are the highly traveled roads that need to be prepared for the evening rush hour," MoDOT Spokesperson Kara Price tells Patch. 

Price said MoDOT is fully staffed Friday afternoon with 204 trucks working.

"We have been preparing for this wintry mix and monitoring the winter forecast," Price tells Patch. "We're ready. We want to regain motorists' trust in us from last week's storm. We are doing our jobs and we want to avoid any icy patches on the roads."

Motorists can check MoDOT’s Traveler Information map for road conditions before their evening commute.