By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Another round of accumulating snow is impacting the region Saturday.
Winter Weather Advisories have been posted for large swaths of northwest Missouri, eastern Kansas, southeast Nebraska and southern Iowa.
St. Joseph and the surrounding area are expected to receive 3-5 inches of snow by Saturday evening, with 1-3 inches expected near Kansas City.
Many area basketball games and activities are canceled Saturday, including the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Basketball Classic at Benton High School in St. Joseph. The event might be made up on Feb. 20.
Chances for light snow will linger into Sunday and early Monday, but no significant, additional accumulation is expected.
This latest system brings with it the first real cold snap of the winter.
Highs through this coming Friday aren't expected to make it out of the teens, while wind chill values during this time could be as low as 10-15 below.
"This will be the first real Arctic blast of the winter so far," said National Weather Service meteorologist Emily Klaus, who works in the Pleasant Hill office. "It's not just going to last a day or two. These cold temperatures will stick around for a week or so."
The forecasted cold snap has resulted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increasing Gavins Point Dam releases from 17,000 to 19,000 cubic feet per second Friday in order to prevent ice jams along the lower Missouri River basin.
“We expect ice forming on the tributaries will reduce inflows into the lower Missouri River. By slightly increasing releases from Gavins Point Dam, we will minimize potentially lower river stages caused by lower inflows and reduce the chance of ice jams forming in the Missouri River,” said John Remus, chief the USACE’s Missouri River Basin Water Management Division.
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