Snow, sleet, freezing rain expected in KC area Friday. Many schools canceling classes
A mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain is in the forecast for early Friday morning, and will likely cause roads to become very slick in the Kansas City area, according to the National Weather Service.
The anticipation of icy conditions has led to several area schools opting to cancel classes for Friday, including Kansas City Public Schools. A list of weather-related closures in the Kansas City area will be updated throughout Thursday night and Friday morning.
Due to the incoming snow, sleet and freezing rain, the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill has issued a winter weather advisory for parts of Missouri and Kansas, including the entire Kansas City area. The advisory will be in effect from midnight to 6 p.m. Friday. The weather service says drivers should “plan on slippery road conditions.”
Snow is expected to move in sometime after 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. Friday and then through rush hour, according to FOX4 meteorologist Joe Lauria in a weather update to The Star. The snow will change over to sleet and then eventually from sleet to freezing rain later in the morning. It will all become rain by the afternoon hours as temperatures rise above freezing.
“Tomorrow, especially during the first part of the day, looks just about as awful as you can kind of dig out as far as winter goes around this part of the country,” Lauria said.
Up to 2 inches of snow and ice accumulations of up to two-tenths of an inch are expected, according to the National Weather Service.
Drivers can check traffic and the conditions of highways and interstates using online maps provided by Kansas City Scout, the Missouri Department of Transportation or the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Conditions are expected to improve after 2 p.m. or 3 p.m.
“Overall, I think tomorrow night if you have some plans, you should be just fine to get from point A to point B,” Lauria said.
Saturday’s forecast calls for temperatures in the low 30s and partly sunny skies.
Colder weather is expected Sunday with temperatures around 25 degrees.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 7:05 PM.
