The first storm of 2025 dumped heavy snows, canzceled classes and events and forced the closure of several business this week.

With snow starting late Saturday night, it continued overnight and through most of the day Sunday, with a brief stoppage between 3-6 p.m. After concluding overnight, more than 24 hours after starting, 9.5 inches of the white stuff fell on the area, according to the Lincoln County Emergency Management Association.

Unlike other areas impacted by the storm, only a small amount of ice in the form of sleet and freezing rain and with the exception of a few brief sporadic outages Sunday afternoon and evening, Lincoln County residents didn’t have to endure the loss of electricity.

According to Emergency Management officials, Linsee coln County residents also did a good job of staying home Sunday and into Monday, allowing road crews to do their cleanup work.

“We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our residents for staying off the roadways on Sunday,” Director Quentin Laws posted on Facebook. “Your cooperation made a significant difference, with traffic reduced to less than 10 percent of a typical Sunday—an incredible effort that helped keep our community safe.”

While major highways were largely cleared by Monday afternoon, local schools continue to err on the side of caution, extending students’ Christmas vacation.

In Troy, classes were canceled entirely Monday and Tuesday and distance learning days took place Wednesday and Thursday. Silex, Winfield and Elsberry all canceled classes through Wednesday, but no announcement was made regarding Thursday before The Journal went to press.

Looking ahead, the forecast calls for warming temperatures with highs at 33, 39, and 39 degrees Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

There is however a 60 percent chance of light snow on Friday, with accumulations around one inch.