Stage being set for winter storm that will bring snow, sleet, freezing rain to KC
A winter storm is expected to bring snow, sleet, and freezing rain to the Kansas City area, making the morning commute hazardous Friday, according to FOX4 meteorologist Karli Ritter.
“Today is going to be the day we set the stage for a winter storm that is going to arrive tonight into most of your Friday,” said Ritter, who provides weather updates to The Star. “So it’s going to be cold today — upper 20s, lower 30s for some of you.”
Temperatures will remain well below normal throughout the day Thursday. The normal high for this time of year in Kansas City is 38 degrees. In addition to the chilly temperatures, clouds will start to move into the metro area.
Then starting at midnight, a winter weather advisory goes into effect and continues until 6 p.m. Friday.
“During that time frame, we are going to talk about snow, sleet, freezing rain and then finish this entire event as a cold rain,” Ritter said.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we did this story
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.
Precipitation from the winter storm isn’t expected to start falling until after midnight.
The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill said the snow will start falling south of the Kansas City metro and spread north overnight. Overall, 1 to 3 inches of snow along with a glaze of up to .25 of an inch of ice is possible with the storm.
Areas north of the Missouri River will see higher amounts of snow while areas south of the river will likely see more icing.
The weather service is recommending people avoid any travel Friday if possible.
When snow starts falling in KC metro area
“Between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. is when we will start to see some light snow moving in,” Ritter said. “And by 7 o’clock, we should start to see some sleet or freezing rain just off to our south and and west. That will start moving in during the back half of the morning rush.”
Between noon and 2 p.m. Friday, the freezing rain and sleet is expected to move out of the metro area, transitioning to a cold rain for Friday afternoon and evening.
Temperatures will climb Friday afternoon and overnight, reaching near 50 degrees in some spots early Saturday morning.
“Then the colder air moves in on Saturday, which could briefly change whatever rain is left over back to freezing rain, sleet or snow,” Ritter said.
The cooler weather is expected to remain in the metro area for the upcoming weekend.
“We are going to have a really weird storm system guys that will then leave us much colder for the upcoming weekend, including for the Chiefs game on Sunday,” Ritter said.
The National Weather Service said there is some uncertainty with the forecast. While there’s moderate confidence in the overall forecast of the snow changing to a wintry mix and then to rain as warmer air moves in, confidence is lower as to the timing.
“If the changeover is delayed, snow totals will be higher and ice totals will be lower,” according to the National Weather Service.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 6:40 AM.
