Winter storm and bitter cold in the weekend forecast for the Kansas City area
A winter storm is expected to bring measurable snowfall to the Kansas City area before bitter cold sends temperatures plunging to the coldest level so far this winter, said FOX4 meteorologist Karli Ritter.
“Later on today, we’ll see a few extra clouds rolling in and we’re going to be on our way up close to 40 degrees, maybe a few spots will end up in the lower 40s,” said Ritter, who provides weather updates to The Star.
The dry weather conditions will continue into Saturday morning, but then a winter storm will move in from the north and west, she said.
“By midday, we’ll have snow falling and it could be falling at a pretty decent clip,” Ritter said. “So midday tomorrow could be a winter wonderland so to speak here in Kansas City. And then just as fast as it moves in, it moves right back out.”
But with the rate that the snow is expected to fall, areas south of Interstate 70 could see possibly an inch or more of snow. Parts of the metro north of I-70 could see up to 3 inches of snow. Some areas to the north and west could see some slightly higher totals, she said.
“After that, it’s all about the cold,” Ritter said. “We could have some flurries on Sunday and then we’ll just settle into a bitterly cold forecast through next week.”
Temperatures are expected to fall to around zero degrees on Sunday morning. Wind chill values will make temperatures feel like they are below zero. Temps return to the teens during the day before plunging again overnight. The bitter cold will remain in the metro for some time, she said.
The National Weather Service in Kansas City said this will be a significant stretch of sub-freezing temperature.
“Around 7 or 8 p.m. tonight, temperatures in KC will fall below freezing and will likely stay below freezing beyond February 15,” the weather service said on Twitter. “We only say February 15 because that’s as far out in time as we can reliably see.”
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 February 5, 2021 at 8:16 AM.
