BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Parts of our area saw significant snowfall overnight Friday into Saturday.

Five and a half inches of snow fell in Belleville, Illinois Saturday morning. Scott Air Force Base had five inches. Down in Desoto, Missouri, nearly six and a half inches of snow fell. The amount of snow that fell seemed to catch many off guard, including road crews.

Some roads became very slick, leading to crashes. FOX 2 captured video of multiple wrecks both in the metro east and around the poplar street bridge. This weekend’s snowfall came not long after MoDOT held its annual Winter Operations Drill. That’s where snow plow operators drive routes and test equipment before any winter storms hit.

MoDOT shared that they are facing significant staffing shortages, and they are 1,000 workers down statewide. Those staffing issues could certainly impact MoDOT’s response to a major winter storm. Here is some of what MoDOT told us during that drill.

“We will focus on clearing interstates and higher volume major routes.,” St. Louis District Assistant Engineer Michelle Forneris shared. “It’s very likely that state lettered and numbered routes will potentially take us 24 hours or more before you see snow plows on those routes.”

MoDOT officials explained that they are down drivers as well. We will see how it goes if road crews are indeed called into action with this approaching winter weather.