Hazardous travel conditions likely as winter storm threatens to blanket KC with snow
People should prepare to hunker down at home later in the week as a brewing winter snowstorm is threatening to blanket the Kansas City area with several inches of snow, according to the latest briefing by the National Weather Service in Kansas City.
“The main message we want people to know is hazardous travel is expected across much of Missouri and eastern and southeast Kansas, so travel is going to be discouraged Wednesday and probably most of the day Thursday as well,” said Sarah Atkins, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Kansas City. “Stay home if you can.”
People should also make sure they have what they need at home, including food, water and blankets.
“We don’t anticipate widespread power outages at this time but it’s always a good thing to be prepared for,” she said.
The weather service is expecting “impactful” snowfall amounts across much of Missouri and eastern and southeastern Kansas.
A winter storm watch is in effect from Tuesday evening through Thursday afternoon for the majority of the Kansas City region. Snow totals of 6 to 14 inches of snow is possible, making travel very difficult to impossible, according to the watch. The heaviest snow is expected to fall in central and eastern Missouri.
In the Kansas City area, snowfall totals are expected to vary significantly, where a tight gradient between lower and higher snowfall amounts is expected to set up over the metro.
Between six and eight inches of snow is expected with some areas receiving as much as 10 inches of snow, especially in the southeast part of the Kansas City metro, Atkins said.
Precipitation starts as rain
Initially, the storm will be a rain event, with areas mainly south of Interstate 70, primarily around Clinton, Butler and Sedalia, seeing rain for a good portion of the day Tuesday. Areas along a line from Kansas City to Kirksville will also see rain initially, but the rain will hold off until the afternoon, Atkins said.
Meanwhile areas north of St. Joseph will probably stay dry or see a brief period of rain. The rain will transition overnight Tuesday into Wednesday. No ice accumulation is expected.
A slight change in the storm’s track would result in a noticeable shift in snowfall totals, Atkins said.
She cautioned against thinking the brunt of the snow missed them if people wake up Wednesday morning and don’t see a whole lot of snow on the ground. The majority of the snow will fall throughout the day and into the night Wednesday.
People are urged to remain off the roads as much as possible Wednesday to allow snowplows the time they need to clear the roads for the morning commute Thursday.
