Travel could be hazardous as winter storm brings blizzard conditions north of KC area
Travel may be hazardous Friday as a winter storm is expected to bring blizzard conditions to northwest Missouri and windblown snow to the Kansas City area, according to the National Weather Service in Kansas City.
A blizzard warning has been issued for areas north of St. Joseph in northwest Missouri that runs from midnight Thursday to 6 p.m. Friday. Winds gusting as high as 50 mph combined with 2 to 4 inches of snow could significantly reduce visibility — at times near zero.
Meanwhile, a winter weather advisory has been issued that includes the Kansas City area from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. Some hazardous travel is expected with near whiteout conditions possible at times.
“We are still going to be dealing with those very strong winds that carry over from today’s forecast — except we’re adding on top of the wind snow,” said FOX4 meteorologist Michelle Bogowith, who provides weather updates to The Star.
The snow is expected to pick up mid-morning into the early afternoon before winding down late in the evening, she said.
“It will have some smaller impacts for your morning commute, some bigger impacts mid-day and then conditions will start to improve late in the day on Friday,” according to Bogowith’s midday forecast.
A lot of cloud cover is expected overnight along with a strong northwest wind. The snow is expected to push into the metro area just in time for the morning commute, Bogowith said.
“We’ll be talking about the snow exiting though sometime after sunset tomorrow evening,” said Bogowith, who added that there will be up to 2 inches of snow possible in the metro. “It’s going to be windblown so it’s going to be a little difficult to actually measure this one.”
The long range forecast indicates that the weekend will get off to a cold start with highs Saturday around freezing, she said.
“We stay cold, but seasonable, into Chiefs Sunday,” Bogowith said. “We’re going to throw in a slim chance though for a few flurries.”
The high Sunday is expected to be in the upper 30s. The normal high for this time of year in Kansas City is 38 degrees.
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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.
