Winter storm heading for Kansas City may bring up to 2 inches of snow, frigid temps
A winter storm moving into the Kansas City area Wednesday will bring the possibility of snow and bitterly cold temperatures in the next two days, according to FOX4 meteorologist Alex Countee.
“We are going to have snow showers coming up from the south during the predawn hours,” said Countee, who provides weather updates to The Star.
“As we head toward about nine o’clock, some of that light snow could be right along I-70 and toward the south. That does include downtown Kansas City.”
At that time, temperatures will be around freezing, so people could see the snow falling and then melting a bit, he 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.
“It will take some time for that snow to actually be sticking to the ground,” Countee said. “I think by lunchtime, we will get there as the snow intensifies, a little bit south of I-70. We will continue to warm above freezing slowly throughout the day.”
Temperatures are expected to top out around 35 degrees Wednesday, he said.
“As we head toward the afternoon, we will see a little bit more of a change over with the snow possible and the colder air up towards the north and east,” Countee said. “On the Kansas side, where it will be a little bit warmer, that’s where we will have a little bit of that wintry mix and rain.”
The slushy snow could create slick and icy roads in the area.
Forecast later in the week
Moisture from the storm will start to move out of the area late Wednesday and early Thursday, Countee said.
A dusting of snow or up to 2 inches are possible in the Kansas City area. Locations to the east of Kansas City are expecting between 2 and 4 inches of snow, he said.
After the storm exits the Kansas City area, temperatures are going to tumble into the single digits by early Thursday. Wind chills could plunge below zero, with some areas seeing wind chill values in the negative teens.
The high Thursday is expected to reach only 17 degrees.
The National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill said in a tweet that the rapidly falling temperatures and flash freezing may be the bigger issue. The quick drop in temperatures could create black ice and slick conditions for the Thursday morning commute.
RideKC, the public transit agency for the Kansas City region, said in a tweet that they were keeping an eye on the storm.
“Today would be a good day to get errands done,” the transit agency said.
Temperatures will fall again overnight Thursday to about 5 degrees by Friday morning with wind chills expected drop to near zero degrees.
Temperatures start to rebound Friday and into the weekend where highs are expected to reach around 50 degrees on Sunday, Countee said.
