Balmy KC weather will be blown away by frigid blast

Brace yourself for a big change in the weather.

Monday was beautiful in Kansas City, as the high reached the low 70s, but temperatures were forecast to plummet by Tuesday night.

A frigid blast of air that started over the weekend with a powerful storm in Alaska is moving south. The Upper Midwest is bracing for heavy snow as temperatures plunge, and Kansas City could see an overnight low in the upper 20s after the cold front hits. Winds are likely to reach 25 mph.

There could be an area of patchy freezing drizzle early Tuesday or a few snow flurries, according to the National Weather Service, but no ice or snow accumulations are expected.

The cold air is forecast to settle in for a while, with daytime highs in the 30s and 40s and overnight lows in the lower 20s and even upper teens through the rest of the week. There is a chance for freezing rain and snow next weekend.

The storm threatens to drop a foot or more of snow in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan after pushing through Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas while also dropping thermometer readings by as much as 40 degrees below average.

Some school districts in Minnesota and South Dakota canceled classes Monday because of snow, while slick roads welcomed morning commuters in parts of Wisconsin.

In Great Falls, Mont., the high temperature — typically in the low 40s this time of year — was predicted to be 8 degrees on Tuesday and stay below freezing into the weekend. The high was 27 on Monday in Sioux Falls, S.D., which was about 20 degrees below normal. High temperatures this week in Minneapolis will only reach the upper 20s.

“We’re kind of getting locked in winter’s grip here,” said Troy Kleffmen, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Aberdeen, S.D.

Residents in Minnesota should prepare for between 8 inches and 12 inches of snow, while Chicago also is expecting earlier-than-usual wintry weather. Weather service meteorologist Gino Izzi said the highs in the city are expected to settle into the 30s from Tuesday through Friday, while nightly lows could drop into the teens.

“It doesn’t look real promising for a warmup after that, either,” he said.

The weather is part of a powerful system being pushed in by the remnants of Typhoon Nuri that hit Alaska’s Aleutian Islands with hurricane-strength winds over the weekend.

Although that storm didn’t do much damage in Alaska’s sparsely populated Aleutian Islands, forecasters say it’s anchoring a system that will push an unseasonably frigid blast of air into the mainland U.S. and send temperatures plunging early this week.

This story was originally published November 10, 2014 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Balmy KC weather will be blown away by frigid blast."