Snow coming later to Kansas City, roads may be dicey during evening rush hour
Road conditions in the Kansas City area may worsen late Wednesday as an off-and-on mix of rain and snow from an early winter storm turns to all snow, according to FOX4 meteorologist Karli Ritter.
“We’ll have a wintry mix through early afternoon with transition to all snowfall later this evening — as early as the evening rush — and it will continue through to about midnight,” said Ritter, who provides weather updates to The Star.
“Temperatures will be falling as that snowfall moves in so the road conditions may get a little dicey as we head through the later evening hours,” she said.
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The Star produced this weather update in partnership with the local FOX4 television station. The station’s meteorologists create forecast videos multiple times a day for the newspaper to include in its weather reports.
The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill said on Twitter that mid-morning road temperatures were holding above freezing.
“But . . . that will change as a wintry mix and then snow develops this evening,” the weather service said. “Slick spots possible; generally after 6 p.m.”
That could be a change from Wednesday morning’s rush hour, when surface temperatures stayed above freezing and commuters generally faced wet roads but not ice.
The Missouri Department of Transportation’s Kansas City District urged drivers to slow down, be patient, leave plenty of room for stopping, refrain from using the cruise control and to wear seat belts.
The snow and any lingering wintry mix are expected to end in the Kansas City area as the storm moves off to the east, Ritter said.
“We will be left with a low-end dusting to a high-end 2 inches of snow including right here in the Kansas City metro,” Ritter said. “Higher amounts will be just east of Kansas City. And then it will be all about the cold for the rest of the week.”
Bone-chilling temperatures are expected across the region on Halloween.
A freeze warning is in effect until 10 a.m. Thursday as sub-freezing temperatures, as low as 22 degrees, was expected in portions of northeast and central Kansas and northwest and west-central Missouri, including the Kansas City area.
People were urged to protect plants from the cold and protect outdoor pipes to prevent them from bursting.
The high on Thursday is expected to climb to the upper 30s, likely among the coldest on record for Halloween here after a 36-degree Oct. 31 in 1951, according to the weather service.
For those not wanting to brave the cold, there are some indoor options for trick-or-treating in the Kansas City area.
This story was originally published October 30, 2019 at 12:35 PM.
