Kansas City faces sub-zero wind chills as power outages roll across the metro
Weather conditions will continue to be dangerously cold as bitter wind chills will remain below zero degrees all day Tuesday in Kansas City, according to FOX4 meteorologist Karli Ritter.
“We’re expecting a cold forecast,” said Ritter, who provides weather updates to The Star. “We’re going to be dealing with temperatures that will be struggling to get out of the single digits above zero and the wind chill will remain below zero all day long.”
This comes as a regional power grid emergency is forcing local utilities to implement rolling blackouts, which are occurring across the metro as the regional demand for electricity eclipsed the system-wide utilities ability to generate it. The power grid issues are due to the long-term cold and inadequate supplies of natural gas.
Southwest Power Pool Inc., which manages the electrical grid across 14 central and western United States, including the Kansas City area, declared an energy emergency about 6:15 a.m. Tuesday.
The National Weather Service in Kansas City said on Twitter that the cold weather is not the same as those in Alaska.
“For those suggesting it feels like Alaska out there, well not quite, Fairbanks, Alaska is currently 5 degrees while KC is -10 and our good friends in St Joseph have bottomed out at -21,” the weather service said. “So, we are only 15 to 25 degrees colder!”
The weather service did have a ray of sunshine: pitchers and catchers report this week for spring training.
“Keep your head up, KC,” the weather service encouraged.
But before metro residents can fully turn their attention to thoughts of spring, another winter storm will bring the chance for more snow to the metro area, Ritter said.
“As we head into tomorrow’s forecast, we have a winter weather advisory that kicks off late tonight and continues through tomorrow,” Ritter said. “Snow chances will be ramping up first thing in the morning.
“It will impact your drive in tomorrow morning into tomorrow midday and then by the drive home tomorrow night the residual effects will be there but I’m optimistic the snow will be winding down before Wednesday evening’s commute.”
Measurable snowfall is expected with most of the Kansas City area picking up a dusting to 2 inches of snow, Ritter said. Areas to the north and west will see the lower snowfall totals while areas to the south and east could see 3 inches or more of snow.
“After tomorrow’s snow chance, we settle into a quieter pattern until Saturday and a warmer one as well with highs finally getting back above the freezing mark on Saturday before we see our numbers falling again with a rain and snow mix expected Sunday,” 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 February 16, 2021 at 9:46 AM.
