Slushy snow, wintry mix, flash freezing likely with Kansas City’s next winter storm
Kansas City’s next winter storm is expected to move into the area Wednesday, said FOX4 meteorologist Michelle Bogowith.
“We are going to be tracking our next winter weather system that is set to arrive in Kansas City for your Wednesday,” said Bogowith, who provides weather updates to The Star. The winter storm is organizing Tuesday in the southwest.
“As that pushes into Kansas City, we will start to see an increase of cloud cover,” Bogowith said. “Weather is going to be an issue for Wednesday as a result with a wintry mix that will transition back and forth between that and snow showers — slushy snow likely to accumulate.”
While the precipitation will be ending Wednesday night, cold air is expected to move into the Kansas City area Thursday, sending temperatures tumbling.
“That could lead us into some flash-freezing for your Thursday morning commute,” Bogowith said.
The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill said the rapidly falling temperatures overnight Wednesday may be a bigger issue than the snow.
“Any road that doesn’t dry out may quickly freeze with these falling temps,” the weather service said on Twitter.
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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.
Flash freezing will be possible
“As we track this for you, notice that cloud cover will become quite extensive during the overnight hours (Tuesday) and moisture begins to push in Wednesday morning,” Bogowith said.
“While this (precipitation) might not necessarily be reaching the ground very early, we will start to see the snow and the wintry mix making its way on down to the surface by mid-morning.”
The weather service said a transition to a rain and snow mix is expected during the afternoon Wednesday. The amount of snow depends on the temperatures. Colder temperatures could result in more snow while warmer temps could mean less snow.
The precipitation is expected to continue off-and-on throughout the day Wednesday.
“Your evening commute could get a little dicey in some spots as slushy snow will start to accumulate at that point,” Bogowith said.
The storm is expected to move out of the Kansas City area overnight Wednesday, leaving behind a dusting to 2 inches of snow. Areas to the northeast of the metro could see between 2 and 4 inches, Bogowith said.
Very cold temperatures will be left behind. Thursday will start with single-digit temperatures and wind chills below zero, she said.
The high Thursday will only reach the mid-teens.
Temperatures Friday morning will also start in the single digits, with wind chills below zero again. The high, however, will climb to around freezing.
The warm-up continues into the weekend, with highs of 44 degrees expected on Saturday and 50 degrees on Sunday and Monday.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 6:57 AM.
