Another round of winter weather is expected to hit Johnson County this evening, bringing a wintry mix that will likely slow down morning commutes on Friday.
Rain is expected to hit the Johnson County area around 7 p.m. and will likely transition into snow toward the morning hours, according to Jon Kurtz, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Kansas City.
There is little expected accumulation of snow and ice
While cities in northern Missouri are expected to get hit the hardest with 3 to 6 inches of snow overnight, it is not expected to accumulate in more local like Johnson County and will likely taper off by Friday morning.
“We actually have a lot of dry air that comes in after midnight,” Kurtz said. “That will probably cut into any kind of amounts we have, which should limit snow amounts and also limit the freezing rain potential for ice on a lot of the surfaces.”
Kurtz warns people that morning commutes should be slow, and they should prepare to take it easy on the roads.
“There’s definitely going to be some concerns by with the bridges and overpasses once again,” he said “Even on those sidewalks and where people are walking, just be careful, depending on how much freezing rain we get. When it mixes in with that snow, it’s going to cause a lot of slick spots across the metro area.”
The storm kicks off a bitterly cold weekend
Kurtz said while being aware of the ice and snow is important, people need to be prepared for the cold coming this weekend.
“On Friday, the temperatures will just continue to drop actually through the day,” he said. “So by Friday at sunset, it’ll be around 12 degrees in the metro area. And pretty cold out there tomorrow night.”
While the high temperature in Johnson County on Friday is hovering at about 20 degrees during, wind chill values will range between -5 and 3 degrees, with wind gusts up as high as 38 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
The weekend will continue to get colder, with a high of 9 degrees and low of -9 degrees on Saturday and high of 2 degrees and low of -10 on Sunday.
Wind chill values will bring those temperatures down even lower, ranging from 10 to 30 below zero, according to the National Weather Service.
“This is very cold, even by Kansas City standards,” he said.
