ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo.–Meteorologists and municipalities are keeping watchful eyes on the weather forecast over the next 24 to 48 hours as the St. Louis region braces for accumulating snow late Tuesday night into the Wednesday morning commute. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for St. Louis and surrounding counties beginning 6 p.m. Tuesday through 9 p.m. Wednesday.

It would be the most significant snowfall of the season, and comes at a time when state highway departments have already acknowledged staffing issues.

In October, the Missouri Department of Transportation said it was down roughly 1,000 employees needed to get roads cleared.

“What that means, with that critical staffing shortage of qualified snowplow operators, it will take us longer to get there and return roads during a winter storm to mostly clear,” Michelle Forneris, MoDOT’s Assistant District Engineer for MoDOT’s St. Louis region told reporters last fall, adding that it could mean an additional 24 hours before the lower priority state roads get cleared, behind interstates and major state corridors.

It also means the agency could look to move personnel from one district to another.

MoDOT officials called the storm a "statewide event" in a Tuesday news conference and said resources were in place.

St. Louis City Streets Commissioner Kent Flake told Spectrum News Tuesday afternoon that his department is short about 40% which will slow the department down some, but isn't expected to be a large factor in in responding to the storm. He's expecting an influx of roughly 10 new employees in the coming weeks.

The St. Louis County Department of Transportation and Public Works would like to have as many as 220 plow operators at the ready, but is closer to 185, spokesman David Wrone said Monday. The shortage wouldn’t keep the department from going to a 12 hour shift if conditions warranted the move.

In St. Charles County, the Highway department there says it is understaffed by 30%, which means by roughly 25 employees. Snow removal work will get done by other highway division employees. 

In Jefferson County, Daniel Naunheim, the Deputy Director of Public Works tells Spectrum News that the county’s snow removal team is fully staffed. The county has also taken on snow maintenance of some subdivision streets, with either dedicated staff or snow removal contractors.

In Illinois, an IDOT spokesman said its staffing was “a little thin” but that the department has the employees it needs to manage this week’s weather. Joe Monroe told Spectrum News that the agency was “leaning against” pre-treating roads as of Monday morning as some forecasts call for the weather to start as rain, although some rock salt could be put down.

Officials in Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois did not respond to requests for comment.