‘Going to get very icy and very slick’ as snow, sleet, freezing rain falls in KC area
A winter storm system that will sweep into the area overnight will impact the morning commute as roads become very slick, according to FOX4 meteorologist Michelle Bogowith.
Clouds will start building in the area Thursday afternoon and eventually snow with sleet and freezing rain will fall before transitioning to a “very cold rain,” said Bogowith, who provides weather updates to The Star.
A winter weather advisory is in effect from midnight until 6 p.m. Friday. The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill said drivers should plan on slippery road conditions.
“After midnight, we will start to see some light snow developing,” Bogowith said. “That will likely carry over into the early part of the morning commute before we make the transition to sleet. Sleet could be accumulating at times, transitioning over to a freezing rain event on top of that sleet.”
That will be when road conditions will worsen and become hazardous, she said.
“It’s going to get very icy and very slick from the morning commute right into the early afternoon,” Bogowith said. “That is until we can get temperatures above the freezing mark and therefore transition to all rain — a very rain cold will happen for late afternoon and early evening.”
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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.
How the storm is expect to take shape
Starting at 10 p.m. Thursday, temperatures will be in the mid- to upper 20s. The snow will start moving into the Kansas City area about 12:30 a.m. Friday.
Temperatures will remain below freezing as the snow starts transitioning over to sleet around 7 a.m. and then over to freezing rain.
By 10 a.m., temperatures are expected to climb to the freezing mark, or a degree or two below it.
“That’s when we will see the sleet accumulating with the freezing rain on top,” Bogowith said. “Temperatures will climb above the freezing mark as we move throughout late afternoon or early evening into those overnight hours.”
Temperatures will continue to climb overnight climb into the 40s, “just to fall down through the 30s into the 20s by mid-morning” Saturday.
“Yes, there could be a little wrap-around wintry precipitation on the back side of that,” Bogowith said.
Temperatures will remain cold for the rest of the weekend. Fans headed to the AFC Championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tennessee Titans Sunday afternoon should plan for temperatures to be in the lower to mid-20s during the football game.
What to expect in snow, ice totals
The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill said areas north of the Missouri River will see snowfall totals of 2 to 3 inches, while areas south of the river will see between 1 and 2 inches of snow.
Ice accumulations up to .25 of an inch are expected south of the river, while only up to .2 of an inch of ice is expected north of the river.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 12:43 PM.
