Good evening bloggers,
A WINTER STORM WARNING is in effect tonight and Saturday. Accumulations of snow are likely on Saturday after freezing rain and sleet tonight. Let's take a look as the new data is now rolling in. We'll also look at the Chiefs forecast as well.
Temperatures are now steadily dropping with a cold surge from the north. There will be increasing areas of slick spots, and sleet is now beginning to fall. This may cause many roads to get coated, slick and hazardous.
There is a storm system, a tricky one, that is tracking into west Texas at the moment. This storm has produced tornadoes well south of Kansas City; heavy rain and thunderstorms in KC with 1.35 inches of rain so far at KCI Airport; freezing rain, sleet, and some snow to our northwest; and now it is about to produce snow near KC.
The 1.35 inches of rain that just fell today is more than the average for the entire month of January. Kansas City averages 1.07 inches for the entire month, and we are not done.
The map above shows the forecast of a band of snow that may be nearly stationary, and last a few hours, until it moves off to the east as you can see below:
Here is the latest timeline:
If that band does indeed become stationary early Saturday, then 4 or 5 inches will fall. If it moves east a bit faster, then snowfall amounts will be less. Right now, I think many areas will receive 3 inches of snow and we will be monitoring for the developing stationary band.
It does look like there will be a band of snow moving across Kansas City on Sunday afternoon, but it is nothing like this storm. It may still produce a band of snow with a minor amount of accumulation.
Have a great evening, and please allow a lot of extra time if you do travel on Saturday.
Gary
