Old Man Winter dumped between a foot and 15½ inches of snow on Columbia in a 24-hour period, making this year the second most significant snowfall since 1900.

Gerik Parmele photos

Above, a driver peaks through his half cleared windshield as he drives down St. Charles Road this morning.  • See the Slide Show

The National Weather Service tracks a 24-hour snowfall by gauging accumulation at the Columbia Regional Airport. Today’s accumulation at the airport is 15.3 inches, enough to break the 1900 mark of 13.9 inches, but not enough to beat the 1995 record of 19.7 inches.

Today does break the record, however, for the National Weather Service’s snowiest day on record with 13 inches falling since midnight.

Today’s snowfall has essentially shut down the city. Emergency officials are urging residents to stay home. The University of Missouri-Columbia called off classes today for the first time since 1995. Major businesses around town and area school districts also are closed.

Mid-Missouri will stay under this blanket of snow into early next week, said Scott Truett, a senior forecaster for the National Weather Service in St. Louis.

“The snow cover is going to keep things very cold,” he said. “I don’t see any big warm-up, at least through Monday. Next week it will be in the upper 20s and lower 30s for a couple of days, then in the 40s by Wednesday. So it’s going to hang around for a while.”

Weather experts say today’s snowfall isn’t an indication of how severe this winter will be.

“The long-term forecast for the winter is above normal and probably dryer,” Truett said.