A winter storm will bring a whole assortment of hazards today and continuing through Saturday. Thunderstorms bringing heavy rain today will cause flash flood concerns across central Missouri. A wintry mix will begin to impact northwest Missouri later this morning and areas further south and east later tonight as colder air pushes into the region. A combination of freezing rain, sleet, and snow will quickly create hazardous driving conditions across much of the region with the heaviest snowfall expected across portions of northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Rain, possibly mixed with freezing rain before 4 p.m., then freezing rain between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., then freezing rain, possibly mixed with sleet after 5 p.m. High near 35. Breezy, with a northeast wind 11 to 16 mph increasing to 19 to 24 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime ice accumulation of less than a 0.1 of an inch possible. Little or no sleet accumulation expected.
Tonight: Snow, possibly mixed with sleet, becoming all snow after 9pm. Patchy blowing snow before midnight, then patchy blowing snow after 3am. Low around 16. Blustery, with a north wind 18 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Saturday: Snow before 5pm, then snow, possibly mixed with freezing rain. The snow could be heavy at times. Patchy blowing snow before noon. High near 22. Wind chill values between -1 and 7. Blustery, with a north wind 15 to 20 mph decreasing to 9 to 14 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 9. North northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: A slight chance of snow after noon, mixing with freezing rain after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 31. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 16.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 41.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 41.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 19.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 30.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 10.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 26.