First major winter storm of 2025 could bring near-record snow to KC. Here’s latest info
The Kansas City area could see the biggest snowfall in recent years — if not record-setting snow — from a major winter storm expected to strike the central U.S. this weekend, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said.
Kansas City’s record for heaviest 24-hour snowfall is 16.1 inches, set on March 23, 1912. The most recent heaviest snowfall was 9.2 inches on Feb. 2, 2013.
“It’ll certainly be one of the more heavier snowfalls that we’ve gotten in recent history,” said Randall Collier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill.
The latest forecast indicates that drizzle and possibly even light freezing drizzle will start in the western portions of the Kansas City area Saturday afternoon, Collier said.
“Then we’re looking for everything to kind of transition into snow kind of like Saturday into Sunday,” Collier said. “We’re looking at heavy, accumulating snow. North of I-70 and along the highway (U.S.) 36 corridor, we’re looking at anywhere from 8 to 16 inches of snow accumulations for this event.”
In the southern part of the Kansas City area, and areas further south, the storm will start with a wintry precipitation of sleet and ice before transitioning into all snow.
While the freezing drizzle could start as early as Saturday afternoon, eastern Kansas and western Missouri have better chances of frozen precipitation later in the evening, Collier said.
The transition zone will be around U.S. 50 highway, with areas to the south more prone to ice, sleet and freezing rain, Collier said. Up to a 1/3 of an inch of icing is possible, which is enough to cause power outages and tree damage.
Travel could be very difficult, impossible
The weather service has issued a winter storm watch for the Kansas City forecast area from Saturday evening through early Monday, saying that travel could be very difficult to impossible.
“Honestly, I would say stay off the road as much as you can,” Collier said. “I would say to definitely get off the road Sunday afternoon. That’s when we’re looking for the highest snow accumulation, potential for blowing snow even that’ll further reduce the visibilities and chances are the roads will still probably have some ice on them.”
Collier said wind gusts will be 30 to 35 mph, so it will be near blizzard conditions, but not quite.
For a storm to be classified as a blizzard, it must contain large amounts of snow or blowing snow, with winds over 35 mph and visibilities less than 1/4 of a mile for at least three hours.
“There may be a couple of pockets of maybe blizzard-like conditions, I just don’t suspect it to be like widespread,” Collier said.
Because of the winds, power outages will be possible.
“Make sure to check road conditions before trips, definitely prepare for potential power outages, stay informed,” Collier said. “Just to kind of double down, reduce travel time as much as possible. If you don’t have to be anywhere, then stay home.”
Snowfall totals could be less
There is still uncertainty in the forecast about where the heaviest snow will fall. The range of snowfall in the immediate metro is between 7 and 13 inches.
For areas north of I-70, there’s a 60% to 70% chance of snow exceeding 8 inches. For areas between I-70 and U.S. 36, the chance of a foot of snow is 50% to 60%, Collier said.
“There is a good chance for a foot of snow in northern and central Missouri,” he said.
Meanwhile, just south of Kansas City will see between 3 and 6 inches of snow.
Snowfall totals will change if the storm tracks either further north or south than expected.
