Jefferson County - East-West Gateway Coordinating Council

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o Over 75% are males.
o About 20% occur in the home.
Jefferson County – Section 2
There are a variety of transportation impacts due to cold weather. Diesel engines are
stressed and often fuel gels in extreme cold weather impacting trucking and rail traffic.
Rivers and lakes freeze, stopping barge and ship traffic. Subsequent ice jams threaten
bridges and can close major highways. Cold temperatures take their toll on vehicle
batteries. Shear cold temperatures stress metal bridge structures. Transportation losses for
the winter of 1976 -77 came to $6.5 billion (in 1980 dollars) (NOAA, 1982).
Cold temperature impacts on agriculture are frequently discussed in terms of frost and
freeze impacts early or late in growing seasons. Absolute temperature and duration of
extreme cold can have devastating effects on trees and winter crops as well. Prolonged
cold snaps can impact livestock not protected from the frigid temperatures. In the winter
of 1983-84, a single cold snap around Christmas destroyed over $1 billion of the citrus
crop in Florida. Louisiana lost 80% of its citrus crop. Tennessee estimated $15 million in
agriculture losses. Texas experienced hundreds of millions of dollars in crop damage
(NOAA, 1983).
Energy consumption rises significantly during extreme cold weather. In the winter of 1976-
77 additional energy consumption cost $3.8 billion (1980 dollars). This includes increase
costs of electricity, fuel oil, and coal.
Extreme cold temperatures can cause significant ground freezing problems, especially if
there is little snow cover. Buried water pipes can burst causing massive ice problems and
loss of water pressure in metropolitan areas. This poses a variety of public health and
public safety problems. One case of a broken water main in Denver, Colorado forced the
entire evacuation in sub-zero temperatures of the medically fragile patients of the Veteran's
Hospital. Other cases of broken water mains have shut down subway systems and financial
centers.
Schools often close during extreme cold snaps to protect the safety of children who wait
for school buses.
Locations/Areas Affected
Winter weather in the St. Louis region moves in an east to west direction. Late winter
storms that have a tendency to be intense tend to generate in the southwest portion of the
United States and move northeast, dependent upon the meteorology and the storm track.
Winter weather is different than other hazards such as tornadoes in that the hazard tends
to occur over a much larger area, often times affecting from several counties to multiple
states.