Kansas City has already seen today’s high as strong storm system sends temps tumbling
The near record high temperatures of mid-60s will be a fond memory as a strong storm system moving across the middle of the country will send Kansas City’s temperatures plunging Wednesday.
Gusty, windy weather will continue throughout the day Wednesday, said FOX4 meteorologist Alex Countee, who provides weather updates to The Star.
“We see the widespread wind advisories area-wide that doesn’t expire until 6 p.m.,” he said. “Temperatures will fall as we’re dealing with 40 to 50 mph gusts.”
Gone are the near record temperatures that Kansas City saw on Tuesday. The high for the day was 64 degrees, just a few degrees shy of the record high for that date, which was 67 degrees set in 1933. The metro area has already seen it’s high for the day as temperatures remained in the upper 50s overnight at Kansas City International Airport.
Countee said on Twitter that wind chills will be in the teens by 6 p.m. in the Kansas City area.
“You don’t need the coats for morning, but you will tonight!” he said.
The National Weather Service in Kansas City said on Twitter that with 50 mph winds blowing in from the south, travel on east-west oriented roads like Interstate 70 is going to be very difficult this morning, especially for high-profile vehicles.
“Please use caution,” the weather service said.
Very high winds will continue to blow across the Kansas City metro area Wednesday afternoon, but will calm down overnight, Countee said.
Expect a pretty breezy start to Christmas Eve in Kansas City, said Countee. Winds gusts will be 20 to 25 mph around 7 a.m. and ramp back up to the 30 or 40 mph range.
“By the way, for tomorrow (Christmas Eve) we are going to be cold with single digit feels-like temperatures in the morning,” Countee said. “It goes for Christmas morning as well. So keep those winter coats handy.”
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.
This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 8:29 AM.
