Much of Missouri is under a winter weather advisory Thursday through late Friday morning, with icy road conditions expected to effect driving this afternoon.
Kansas City based National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Gitro says the problem is that rain across the state will be followed by a strong arctic cold front that’ll send temperatures plummeting in the afternoon.
“Any rain or water that we have lingering on area roadways, sidewalks, elevated surfaces etc., we’re afraid that there could be a pretty quick freeze which could result in some pretty slippery conditions, potentially later on this afternoon into this evening,” said Gitro.
The northwest portion of the state is expected to receive four to five inches of snow, while the rest of Missouri will see freezing rain and a glaze of ice on roadways. Gitro says the snow will be limited to areas north of Kansas City.
“We don’t think there’s going to be that much snow accumulation from Kansas City and points eastward down the I-70 corridor,” Gitro said. “We’re more concerned about some light freezing drizzle and that rapid freeze occurring across the rest of the state, which could lead to some slippery roadways from Kansas City eastward all the way into the St. Louis area.”
The Springfield area in Southwest Missouri is also under a winter weather advisory.
Most of the state is affected by the notification which will expire Friday morning, except in the western portion of the state where conditions are expected to improve by Thursday afternoon.