Blowing snow to make roads hazardous in KC, with blizzard conditions north of metro
A winter storm is expected to make travel hazardous Friday as it brings blowing snow and reduced visibility to Kansas City and blizzard conditions north of the metro, according to FOX4 meteorologist Karli Ritter.
“Right now we’re dealing with winter weather advisories,” said Ritter, who provides weather updates to The Star. “We also have up to the north blizzard warnings and this is where the worst of the weather is going to be throughout the day today.”
In Kansas City, temperatures are expected to hold steady Friday just below freezing, she said.
“A little bit later on this morning, we’re going to have snow blowing around at times, reducing visibility,” Ritter said. “The snow will become heavier as the morning unfolds into the middle part of the day is when we could have some bursts of heavier snow.”
The National Weather Service in Kansas City said on Twitter that road conditions were quickly deteriorating this morning, especially across northern Missouri.
“Further south, snow is starting to accumulate on roadways,” the weather service said. “Please take your time & leave plenty of distance between yourself & others. Give snowplows plenty of room & only pass when it is safe to do so.”
The snowfall is expected to start winding down for the drive home, Ritter said. Up to 2 inches of snow is possible in Kansas City with higher totals of up to 4 inches of snow possible in northwest Missouri, where the blizzard warning is in effect.
“It does look like the snow is going to be very difficult to measure because it’ll be blowing around everywhere,” Ritter said.
The Missouri Highway Patrol’s Troop A, which includes the Kansas City area, said the roads are getting slicker, mainly north of Interstate 70, but also building to the south.
“We can’t say it enough . . . SLOW DOWN!” the highway patrol said on Twitter.
Several schools in the Kansas City area, including Blue Springs, Grandview, Grain Valley and Fort Osage, announced they were closing their school buildings and having students attend classes through remote learning.
RideKC announced at 6:30 a.m. that buses were operating on regular routes and regular schedules. RideKC Freedom and Micro Transit were operating in Phase A with possible delays of 30 to 60 minutes.
Although snow is not expected to be a factor in the playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Browns Sunday afternoon, temperatures will be in the 30s and there may be a few snow flurries flying around.
“Then the rest of the forecast looking much nicer heading into next week,” Ritter 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.
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 8:10 AM.
