Early spring-like weather descends upon Kansas City after weekend winter storm

Break out the umbrellas — at least for Monday — and the light jackets because Kansas City is about to go through a January thaw this week.

“It looks like we are finally going to see a return to first near- and then above-normal temperatures as we go through a warming trend through the week,” said Spencer Mell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill, Mo.

A steady, soaking rain is expected to fall across the Kansas City area through Monday evening, dumping about a half to three-quarters of an inch of rain by the end of the day. Some places might see higher amounts.

Temperatures, meanwhile, are expected to climb near 50 degrees Monday, kicking off a week where temperatures feel more like mid- to late-March.

Temperatures will fall slightly Tuesday, with highs reaching only the upper 30s to low 40s.

“We will still be in what we call a cool northwest flow Tuesday, which is on the backside of the system that brought this weekend’s weather,” Mell said. “That will leave us in still near-normal temperatures.”

That’s a big change from the weekend where Kansas City was under the dread of an ice storm.

Temperatures will start warming up again to well above normal, with highs reaching the low 50s Wednesday. Highs will continue to climb for the remainder of the week, with temperatures reaching the upper 50s on Friday and near 60 on Saturday.

“You could say early-spring temperatures — that’s certainly not a stretch at all,” Mell said.

The weather in Kansas City this January has been kind of a roller-coaster ride, with stretches of cold days and then stretches of warm days.

“For the month, we are three degrees below normal,” Mell said. “This will help balance that out.”

There’s a small chance of rain Thursday night into Friday, but not much precipitation is expected.

The next real chance is Saturday night into Sunday, but it appears that temperatures would be too warm for any winter precipitation, Mell said.

“Just get out there and enjoy it,” Mell said.

It would be a good time to get anything done that was put off by this past weekend’s weather — like taking down Christmas lights.

“It’s Restaurant Week, so it would be a great week to get out and enjoy some of those as well,” Mell said.

This story was originally published January 16, 2017 at 11:50 AM with the headline "Early spring-like weather descends upon Kansas City after weekend winter storm."