Winter storm warning issued for Kansas City, as weekend travel to become nearly impossible
The National Weather Service has placed Kansas City under a winter storm warning as an approaching snowstorm could bring over a foot of snow and gusty winds that could make travel impossible.
The warning, which replaces a winter storm watch, is in effect from 6 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Monday for the Kansas City metro and portions of east-central and northeast Kansas and central, northeast, northwest and west-central Missouri, the weather service said.
A heavy mix of precipitation is expected from the winter storm starting around 3 p.m. Saturday, including sleet, freezing rain or drizzle and snow. Between 8 and 13 inches of snow and sleet is expected in Kansas City and north of I-70 by Monday, along with ice accumulations up to .016 of an inch. Wind gusts will be as high as 35 mph by Sunday afternoon.
The NWS is not certain exactly where the heaviest snowfall will land. However, the organization predicts a 68% chance that at least eight inches of snow will fall in Kansas City.
South of the I-70, 3-8 inches of snow are expected. Ice accumulation will be more significant moving from north to south, with 0.03 of an inch expected in St. Joseph and 0.44 of an inch expected in Butler.
The combined conditions could make travel very difficult to impossible. Residents can expect poor visibility throughout the day and weekend, the NWS said.
“If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency,” the weather service said.
Power outages will also be possible, along with other “impacts to infrastructure.”
The storm is expected to bring Kansas City one its more heavier snowfalls in recent history, Randall Collier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said earlier Friday.
Although drizzle and possibly even light freezing drizzle could start falling in western portions of the Kansas City area Saturday afternoon, heavy snow is expected to move in overnight and early Sunday. With ice and sleet falling first, roads are expected to deteriorate quickly.
“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.
Bitterly cold temperatures in the wake of this storm system will remain in the area through the end of the week, the weather service said.
Temperatures will vary between 15 and 17 degrees in the Kansas City area Saturday, but are expected to drop steadily throughout Sunday and Monday. Sunday’s high of 13 degrees just after midnight will drop to zero degrees by 6 p.m., then again to -4 by early Monday morning and to -7 by 6 a.m. Monday.
Windchills at or below zero degrees are expected throughout the region through Thursday, especially early in the morning.
“In fact, we`ll likely see at least three days in row with lows below zero at KCI (Tuesday - Thursday),” the weather service said in its forecast discussion. “With the wind factored in, we’ll see multiple days with wind chill values less than -15.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2025 at 2:35 PM.
