Three-day winter storm to impact Kansas City’s roads. Here’s what to expect each day.
A big winter weather storm system is expected to bring three days of snow, freezing rain and sleet to the Kansas City area, and will have an impact on travel, said FOX4 meteorologist Michelle Bogowith.
“This is a fluid system —things are going to be changing,”said Bogowith, who provides weather updates to The Star.
“We are going to know basically on a day-by-day what is going to happen for Thursday and for Friday once we move into Wednesday,” she said. “Travel impacts though, regardless of what happens, are likely during this time frame.”
The winter weather system was moving onshore in the Pacific Northwest Tuesday morning and it is expected to combine to the west of Kansas City with moisture streaming in from the Four Corners region of the Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, Bogowith said.
“Lots of cloud cover is headed in our direction and throughout the day today, expect to see the cloud cover continuing to increase, especially overnight tonight,” she said.
The first of three waves is expected to arrive in the metro area early Wednesday, bringing the chance of snow showers.
“After 6 a.m., I do anticipate snow falling across the area,” Bogowith said. “We could pick up a quick 1 to 2 inches, maybe some of you could even see some slightly higher totals — closer to 3 inches as the snow continues to go past the lunch hour.”
The snow will transition to more of a wintry mix in the afternoon and evening, carrying over into Thursday.
“At times on Thursday, there could be some cold rain showers that do develop and then that too will transition back to snow as cold air wraps around the backside of the system to close out the work week on Friday,” 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 Kansas City district office of the Missouri Department of Transportation said crews were prepping their trucks Tuesday morning to get ready for the next snow event.
“That includes checking gauges, fluid levels, security chains, tire pressure , etc.,” the department said on Twitter. “Are you ready?”
Closer look
Beginning at 6 a.m. Wednesday, snow showers are expected to roll in to the Kansas City area. The snow is expected to transition over a wintry mix Wednesday afternoon and continue into the evening.
“We could have some sleet and freezing rain mixing in with those snowflakes at times late into the day Wednesday,” Bogowith said. “That will carry over into your Thursday morning. This could create some travel troubles for the next three days.”
By Thursday evening, colder air will filter back into the area. By Friday morning, the wintry mix will transition back into accumulating snow, she said. The snow will come to an end as the storm system moves off to the east later in the day.
“One thing to note is that there will be snow accumulations,” Bogowith said. “We just have to take into account the melting factor when on top of some of those snow accumulations, we will transition back to that wintry mix allow some of that to melt down.”
In addition to the 1 to 2 inches of snow on Wednesday, expect to see a couple more inches Friday by the time the storm clears the metro, she said.
