ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOX) - Missouri’s transportation department says, wherever you want to be during Thursday’s storm, you’ll want to be there by about 9 a.m. on Thursday morning. (Check our weather map)

MoDOT Maintenance Engineer Becky Allmeroth says sleet and snow will begin about 9 a.m., and within an hour of the arrival of the storm, roads will be covered in ice or sleet.

“Once it hits, it’s going to be pretty intense, pretty severe,” she said.

She says to expect heavy precipitation between noon and 5 p.m. That includes sleet, freezing rain and potentially hail. After it stops, Allmeroth says it will take “many, many hours” to clear the roads.

“We think we’re going to be fighting this into Friday morning,” she said.

She says to stay at home during the afternoon and evening because if your car slides off the road during that heavy precipitation, she says MoDOT and the Missouri Highway Patrol won’t be able to come help.

Missouri Highway Patrol Sargeant Al Notham says anyone who can take the day off tomorrow or work from home absolutely should. Allmeroth agrees, and says she would tell school districts to consider keeping children home too.

MoDOT has been pre-treating roads with salt and beet juice since Tuesday.