Warm now, snow and freezing rain later: How bad could Kansas City’s weekend get?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Warm February ends with near‑record highs, topping around 73 degrees Friday.
- Dry, windy conditions raise grassfire risk and advise against planned burns.
- Weekend cold front brings mixed wintry precipitation, freezing rain possible.
An unusually warm February will finish on a near‑record high note, but March will roar in with a blast of winter, bringing a messy mix of rain, snow and possibly even sleet and freezing rain, according to the National Weather Service.
Before winter returns, sunny, spring-like weather will dominate the metro, with temperatures in the low 60s on Thursday. Friday will be especially warm, with high temperatures climbing to around 73 degrees, which would tie a year-old record, according to the weather service.
But the warm weather, very low humidity, gusty winds and dry ground mean there’s an elevated fire danger, with conditions ripe for grassfires to ignite and spread quickly, the weather service said.
“Not a good day for any planned burns,” the weather service said.
A cold front will move into the area Friday night into Saturday. Depending on where the front settles, afternoon highs could remain well above normal or fall back to more seasonal levels.
For now, it looks like temperatures in the metro will reach a high in the mid-60s Saturday afternoon, above the average of 49 degrees typical for the end of February in Kansas City.
The weather service said there’s a 30-degree spread in high temperatures Saturday between northern Missouri and the southern tier of counties in the Kansas City forecast area.
Snow, freeezing rain in KC’s forecast
Then winter comes fighting back.
A weather system is expected to move across the region Sunday, bringing a smorgasbord of wintry precipitation, including rain, snow, freezing rain and sleet, the weather service said.
Significant uncertainty remains regarding which areas of the region will see what type of precipitation, the weather service said. But forecast models have been trending colder, pushing the mixed precipitation slightly southward.
Temperatures will be the key in determining whether an area sees rain, snow or freezing rain.
That said, the probability of freezing rain has increased from northeastern Kansas into west-central Missouri, with a 25-45% chance of at least .01 inch of freezing rain, the weather service said. There is a 5-10% chance for at least .25 inch of freezing rain through that area.
“Further north, deeper into the cold air, the probability for snowfall has increased, with a 20-55% chance for at least 1 inch of snow,” the weather service said. “The highest probabilities are naturally across the northern portions of the forecast area where the deeper cold air will reside.”
In addition to the possibility of freezing rain, the probability of snow across the Kansas City area has increased to roughly 35-45% for at least 1 inch of accumulating snow.
The weather pattern is expected to remain active into next week, resulting in daily chances for rain, including periods of wintry precipitation, the weather service said.
