Warmer temperatures help Kansas City avoid rare weather event, late-January snowstorm
A storm is expected later this week, but instead of snow, the Kansas City area will experience rain due to the arrival of warmer temperatures, according to the National Weather Service in Kansas City.
The warmer temperatures will also keep the metro from experiencing a rare event.
The weather service tweeted that temperatures reached 49 degrees on Tuesday, the warmest day of the month.
“Not having a 50-degree day in Jan is pretty rare as it has only happened 9 times in KC’s 136-year record,” the weather service said. “Last time it happened was 2011.”
With Wednesday likely to be in the low 50s, that number should remain at nine, the weather service said.
Typically, Kansas City sees temperatures around 39 degrees this time of year, according to climate data.
This month has been a colder-than-average January, with temperatures averaging about 7 degrees below normal. According to the data, the average temperature for this month is 22.4 degrees, the 16th coldest in history.
Rain, maybe thunderstorms, return to KC’s forecast
The chance of precipitation returns Thursday morning as a weather system moves into an area, the weather service said.
With temperatures expected to be in the upper 40s, this storm will likely be mostly rain. The weather service said isolated thunderstorms are possible during the day and again at night, but no severe weather is expected.
Rain chances for Kansas City start at 15% at midnight Wednesday and increase to 55% by 6 a.m. Thursday. By noon, the chances of rain increase to 85% and remain there for most of the afternoon, dropping to 80% in the evening. The rain is expected to continue into Friday.
There is a chance of snow mixing in with the rain in northwestern Missouri, but the weather service said it is unlikely to accumulate because temperatures will remain above freezing.
The metro area has a zero percent chance of snow.
Temperatures on Friday will be in the upper 40s.
Near 60-degree weather expected over the weekend
Warmer weather will move back in once the weather system moves out of the area.
Temperatures for the weekend will climb into the low to mid-50s on Saturday and the mid-50s to mid-60s on Sunday across eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
In the metro, temperatures will climb to near 60 on Sunday.
“That warmup doesn’t last long as colder air spills back into the middle of the country by Monday into Tuesday,” the weather service said.
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 7:55 AM.
