Winter storm could make Thanksgiving holiday travel hazardous in Midwest
The latest weather forecast for the Kansas City area predicts precipitation on several different days this week. That story is posted here.
Those headed out of Kansas City for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday will want to keep a close eye on the weather forecast, as a winter storm is threatening to make travel hazardous in the Midwest, according to the National Weather Service.
The areas facing the greatest impacts are Nebraska and Iowa, but west and northeast Kansas and far northwest Missouri may have transportation issues caused by snow.
In the Kansas City area, rain will change over to snow Tuesday night but accumulations are expected to be light. There’s still some uncertainty as to the exact timing and location of the storm and snowfall amounts, the weather service said.
People in the Kansas City area were being urged to take advantage of beautiful weather to start the holiday week.
“Very nice conditions will be pushing temperatures near 60, if not just above in many cases,” said FOX4 meteorologist Garry Frank, who provides weather updates to The Star. “But travel concerns, especially as we get closer to the the holidays, still remain a factor.”
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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 change in weather will begin Monday into Tuesday, as a warm front lifts up from the south. There will be a few showers to start the day Tuesday, but highs will climb into the 40s, 50s and possibly 60s in the afternoon as a dry period settles in the metro area, Frank said.
“But look what’s behind it — there’s going to be snow behind it.”
People traveling west on Interstate 70 into Kansas, or north on Interstate 29 and Interstate 35 into Nebraska and Iowa, will be headed into snowy conditions, he said.
“For the metro, I think we are just going to be dealing with some light snow behind it,” Frank said. “I don’t think it’s going to cause too many issues in general.”
It will be much cooler headed into the holiday, with highs reaching only the mid-40s Wednesday. The high on Thanksgiving Day will be in the upper 30s.
The weather service said there’s potential for winter weather on Thanksgiving Day, but the forecast remains uncertain.
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 12:24 PM.
