Cooler temps, strong winds to greet St. Patrick’s Day parade-goers

For the 43rd year, Kansas City’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take over a portion of the city Tuesday, and this year’s edition will be headlined by a splashy name.

Author and Kansas City native Gillian Flynn, whose best-selling novel “Gone Girl” was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film last year, will serve as grand marshal.

As it has since 2009, the parade will proceed south on Broadway Boulevard, beginning at 11 a.m. at Linwood Boulevard and ending at 43rd Street about two hours later.

Roughly 110 entries will participate.

Beginning at 9 a.m., Broadway will be closed in the 16-block area from 31st to 47th streets. Cars parked in that area, as well as in the parade staging area on Linwood from Main to Pennsylvania and on Broadway from 31st to Linwood, should have been moved by 4 a.m. Tuesday.

Police note that open-container ordinances will be enforced for the duration of the parade.

Don’t expect Tuesday’s highs to reach the 80s like Monday’s. Parade-goers might need light jackets because temperatures likely will be in the mid-40s at the start of the parade and low 50s by the parade’s end.

There will be winds of 14 to 15 mph with gusts in the low 20s throughout the parade.

The temperatures are a big difference from the record high of 83 degrees at Kansas City International Airport Monday. A strong cold front moved through the area Monday night, sending temperatures tumbling.

Because Tuesday will be another day of dry and gusty conditions, there is a very high fire danger to portions of northern Missouri, especially north of Interstate 70.

The National Weather Service strongly discourages outdoor burning.

There is a chance of rain Wednesday and Wednesday night, mainly south of Interstate 70.

This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 7:46 AM with the headline "Cooler temps, strong winds to greet St. Patrick’s Day parade-goers."