By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Storm Warning for the Midland Empire.
The Weather Service updated its forecast, Saturday afternoon, posting a blizzard warning from three o'clock Sunday morning until three o'clock Monday morning.
This warning which covers northeast Kansas, northwest Missouri, southeast Nebraska, and southwest Iowa begins at noon today and runs through three o'clock Monday morning.
Meteorologists with the NWS forecast heavy mixed precipitation with total snow and sleet accumulations between 7 and 14 inches and ice accumulations up to one tenth of an inch. Winds will gust up to 40 miles per hour. The conditions will make travel very difficult to impossible. The NWS expects widespread blowing snow to significantly reduce visibility.
If you must travel, the NWS advises to keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.
The latest road conditions in Kansas can be obtained by calling 5 1 1 and in Missouri by visiting traveler.modot.org.
The forecast for the greater St. Joseph area calls for a chance of snow and freezing rain, mostly late this afternoon. It will be cloudy with a high of 26.
The winter storm truly moves in overnight with NWS forecasting snow, possibly mixed with freezing rain, early in the evening into the overnight hours. The overnight low is expected to drop to 16 degrees.
Snowfall is expected to be heavy on Sunday with a high of 19. Wind chills will hover between -1 and -4. It will be blustery with northeasterly winds of around 21 mph and gusts of up to 37 mph. The NWS expects snow accumulations on Sunday to range from 7 to 11 inches.
This storm will leave bitterly cold temperatures in its wake. The NWS expects the storm to clear out by Monday morning with sunny skies and a high of 14 on Monday.
This story has been updated since first posted.