Dangerous, bitterly cold wind chills dive into Kansas City as arctic front swoops in
Bundle up Kansas City.
An arctic blast diving into the area is threatening to bring record-setting cold along with dangerous, bitterly cold wind chills, according to the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill.
The Kansas City area will be under a wind chill advisory from 6 p.m. Tuesday through noon Wednesday. Very low temperatures and frigid winds could send wind chill values plunging between -24 and -15 degrees.
The wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes. Hypothermia is also a concern if people are not prepared, according to the weather service.
It will be even colder north of Kansas City where wind chills are expected to range between -40 and -25 degrees. The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill warning for northern and central Missouri from 6 p.m. Tuesday through noon Wednesday.
With wind chill values this low, frostbite can occur in 15 minutes on exposed skin, according to the weather service.
The record low for Jan. 30 is -7 degrees, set in 1918. The record lowest high temperature is 7 degrees, set in 1951. This arctic blast is threatening to shatter both of those records, according to the weather service.
The Kansas City area already is feeling the bitter cold, as temperatures fell overnight into the low to mid-teens. Wind chills dipped to 1 degree at 2 a.m. Tuesday.
At 6 a.m., it was 16 degrees at Kansas City International Airport, with a wind chill value at 5 degrees.
Temperatures aren’t expected to get much higher either. The high Tuesday is expected to reach the lower 20s by noon, at which point temperatures will start their tumble as the arctic front arrives in the area, according to the weather service.
By the evening rush hour Tuesday, temperatures will be back into the teens with wind chills dipping near zero degrees.
The coldest temperatures of the season so far are expected to arrive Tuesday night, with temperatures falling into the single digits below zero in the Kansas City area to the negative teens further north of the metro.
Dangerously cold wind chills are likely, with values of -35 degrees possible across northern Missouri. The coldest time will be around sunrise Wednesday morning.
Wednesday temperatures are expected to hover a few degrees above zero in the Kansas City area. Wind chills, however, are expected to remain below zero throughout the day, according to the weather service.
Thursday will be much warmer, climbing above freezing by afternoon. Temperatures will continue their climb, reaching the 40s on Friday, the 50s on Saturday and near 60 on Sunday.
This story was originally published January 29, 2019 at 6:48 AM.
