FIRST WARN FORECAST: Cold air is here, now waiting on snow
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A Winter Weather Advisory is in place for far northeast Kansas and northern Missouri from 3 AM to 6 PM Monday. This area has the best confidence in snow accumulation for the small system moving in overnight into Monday. The KC metro is not included at this time. A trace to two inches is possible, posing some minor travel impacts. Might have a dusting closer to Kansas City at this time. Areas south of I-70 will miss out for the most part on this small round of snow showers. The highest confidence for this first wave of light snow is early to mid-morning. Morning lows will be in the single digits on Monday, with wind chills well below zero. High temperatures remain in the frigid teens on Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, temperatures will be going down from there. Tuesday through Thursday we have elevated to First Warn Weather Days as life-threatening cold temperatures are possible. An Extreme Cold Watch is now in place from Tuesday at 12 am through Thursday at noon. I do expect this to be elevated to a warning over the next 24-48 hours. The reason for this watch is dangerously cold wind chills as low as 25 below are possible for most of the viewing area, and the longevity of the arctic blast. Temperatures start below zero in the morning and only reach 5 degrees in the afternoon. Frostbite can happen to exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes. Make sure you dress in layers if you are going to be outside for any amount of time.
A Winter Storm Watch is in place south of I-70 late Monday through late Tuesday. Tuesday is a First Warn Weather Day for both widespread snow potential and brutally cold temperatures. At this time, snow looks to be possible throughout the day with the potential for light to moderate snowfall potential. For this second wave of snow, models are indicating anywhere between 2″ to 8″ at this time, depending on where you live. Generally, the rule of thumb at this time is the farther south you live from I-70, the higher your snow totals are looking to be. Those down in Anderson, Linn, Bates, Henry and Benton counties are in that higher zone. KC metro should see at least 3-5″ inches by the end of the day Tuesday. Keep in mind, this is going to be fine and powdery snow. Very cold air is wrapped into the system, so pockets of dry air are a concern. More is possible if the storm system tracks north, though less would occur if the storm tracks south. These wiggles in the track will determine how much we get, but we need to be thinking about the likelihood of impactful snow next week.
Most of the snow is done late Tuesday night. We are highlighting Wednesday as a First Warn Weather Day for dangerous cold. Morning temperatures start out at 8 below zero (which would set a new record) and highs only reach the upper single digits. Wind chill values of 20 to 30 below zero will be possible. We will likely not feel about zero throughout the day.
Thursday, a First Warn Weather Day for dangerous cold remains. Thursday morning will be EVEN colder, with temperatures of 10 below zero with feels like temperatures 20 to 30 below zero. Temperatures do make a comeback into the mid-teens by the afternoon.
First Warn in place for Friday as we start below zero (feels like 5 to 15 below), so not as drastically cold as other days. We reach up to around 20 by the afternoon.
Nonetheless, this next 7-day period will bring snow potential and very dangerous cold. Please stay safe in the cold conditions and don’t forget about your pets they need to be inside with these conditions we are expecting next week. Frostbite can settle in under 30 minutes with the dangerous windchills we are expecting. Continue to check back with the First Warn 5 Weather Team for the latest updates.
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