As snowstorm & coldzilla looms, KC mayor says, ‘Let’s be mindful of each other’
On the eve of a winter storm predicted to bring as much as 8 to 9 inches of snow, with temperatures plunging to bone-chilling single digits, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas urged residents “to be mindful of each other, our employers, our neighbors, others as we go through all this.”
He requested that residents keep streets and roadways clear, if possible.
“We understand that people need to get around,” the mayor said at a Friday storm press briefing that included other city officials. “We understand folks got to get to the hospital, nurses have to be able to get to work. There are a lot of other workers who need to be able to get to where they need to go. We are working to prioritize all those steps.
“We also want to make sure that people understand that it is a large city. All of the different jurisdictions around us have a lot of different things to address, and our people are trying to make sure they get out there. There are people driving that snow plow, there are people addressing all these issues. There are people in that police car, that fire truck responding to a scene. Think about the work they have to do.
“If there are trips you don’t have to take, I would say don’t take it.”
He asked other employers to consider the welfare of their employees.
“I would also say this,” Lucas said. “There are a lot of folks who don’t work for the city, but who are also going to work. I would encourage employers — to the extent that you have people who are exposed to the outdoors, or unheated venues in which they work — think about them. Think about the fact that maybe it is a tough working condition.
“I won’t tell anybody how to run their business, other than to say let’s be mindful of each other, our employees, our neighbors and others as we go through all of this.”
Kansas City Manager Mario Vasquez said that although some city workers will be required to be at City Hall, the weather may require others to work from home.
“There are some folks who need to be in the building no matter what,” Vasquez said, “so we’re asking them to go there. For other folks who have the ability to work from home, we’re asking them to take their laptops home.”
Vasquez is confident that the city will be able to handle the storm. Public Works Director Michael Shaw said the city works to learn from every snow event, doing data analysis, looking at what worked and what did not in order to improve response.
“Some of the things we did from the last big snow we had in January of last year,” he said, “we shortened the routes. One of the things we realized is that our plow trucks, the routes were so big, they couldn’t get through it in a 12-hour day.”
The city this year has shortened those routes to be completed in an eight-hour period of time, using more people and more equipment.
“We have a significant storm coming,” Shaw said. “It’s going to be snowing for, it looks for 24 to 30 hours non-stop. And that’s a significant event. It’s a long snow, so it looks like it is going to take us longer than normal to clear our streets.”
Shaw said he expects crews to be plowing snow from about 12 a.m. Saturday until about 6 a.m. Sunday. He said 360 employees will begin working 12-hour days beginning at about 6 p.m. Friday evening. He said the city expects to have 175 to 180 trucks on the streets beginning Friday evening and “we’ll go until this city is clear.”
Because the snow is expected to be dry, he said, the city will not initially salt the roads, as salt causes snow to melt. They want to prevent it from refreezing into ice, which can make the roads dangerous. Once the roads are clear, he said, they will work to keep them dry.
“We really want people to be very cautious when they get out here on the streets,” Shaw said. “So please be extremely careful and, if you can, avoid getting on the streets.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2026 at 4:19 PM.
