National Weather Service Archives

Winter weather advisories will cover most of Missouri on Thursday into Friday (AUDIO)

January 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service (NWS) will be issuing multiple winter weather advisories on Thursday afternoon and evening, that will impact almost all of Missouri.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pleasant Hill says the heaviest snow on Thursday will be in the Moberly and Macon areas (January 23, 2020 map courtesy of NWS Pleasant Hill Twitter)

NWS Pleasant Hill meteorologist Spencer Mell is urging you to slow down on the road.

“Roads across, especially across northern Missouri this afternoon, are already snow-covered,” Mell says. “And it really doesn’t take much, we’ve seen a lot of accidents already out there.”

Missourinet Cameron affiliate KMRN (AM 1360) and Chillicothe affiliate KCHI (FM 102.5) report dozens of school districts across northwest Missouri canceled classes today. Many of them have been closed all week.

The winter weather advisory for northern Missouri will take effect at 3 p.m. The heaviest band of snow will impact towns like Moberly, Macon, Boonville, Fayette, and Marshall, where four to six additional inches is possible.

“As we get into this evening, the temperatures are going to cool down out there and we will see a band of heavier snow set up in that area,” says Mell.

As for the Kansas City metro over to west-central Missouri’s Sedalia, NWS meteorologist Mell expects more snow to fall tonight.

“So we’re probably looking at more of the 8 to 10 p.m. time frame before we really start to see the snow stick in the Kansas City area,” Mell says.

In mid-Missouri, Mell says snow is expected to start falling again at about 10 p.m. in Jefferson City and Columbia. Two to four inches of additional snow is expected.

In St. Louis, the NWS office there says light snow and snow will change to all snow during tonight’s evening rush hour. The NWS says it will reduce visibility for St. Louis-area motorists, and potentially create snow-covered road conditions. About an inch of snow is expected.

Snow will also impact the Ozarks tonight into Friday. The I-44 corridor between Lebanon, Waynesville and Rolla should see two to three inches.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Spencer Mell, which was recorded on January 23, 2020:

Projected snow totals for Missouri through Friday night

January 23, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

A winter weather advisory remains in effect through noon today and most areas can expect a rain/snow mix today and snow tonight into Friday. The National Weather Service says it will be hard to project “the exact wintry precipitation types, transitions, and overall accumulations of snow, sleet, and ice” because of fluctuations in temperature.

Snowfall for western Missouri through Friday night:

Snowfall for eastern Missouri through Friday night:

Winter weather advisory impacting much of Missouri, including Legislature

January 22, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for much of Missouri.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for much of Missouri (January 22, 2020 map courtesy of NWS Pleasant Hill Twitter)

Wednesday and Wednesday night’s heaviest snowfall will be across northern Missouri, with towns like Maryville, Bethany and Trenton expected to receive three to four inches.

Reporter Jeremy Shields at Missourinet Cameron affiliate KMRN reports there has been snow, blowing snow and sleet in northwest Missouri this morning.

Reporter Tom Tingerthal at Missourinet Chillicothe affiliate KCHI reports there is already about an inch-and-a-half of snow on the ground there, as of this afternoon. Tingerthal also notes many school districts across northwest Missouri have not been in session this week. Classes are expected to be canceled on Thursday as well, due to the winter storm.

Towns located near and along the I-70 corridor should see one to three inches of snow. They include Kansas City, Clinton, Sedalia and Columbia.

The NWS warns hazardous driving conditions will continue into this evening, and that untreated and rural roads will be very slick.

The NWS is urging you to slow down, and to give yourself extra time on the road.

The snow is also impacting legislative work at the Missouri Capitol.

The Missouri Senate has adjourned until next week. Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, tweeted today, urging lawmakers and residents to stay safe as they travel to every corner in the state.

The House will also not be in session on Thursday. Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, tells Missourinet they will have a technical session, which simply requires one member to gavel-in and out.

KMRN: Five tractor trailers jackknifed Friday on icy I-35 in northwest Missouri (AUDIO)

January 17, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Law enforcement officials in northern Missouri’s Harrison County are asking residents and travelers to stay off the roads there, until heavy freezing rain and sleet stops.

A Missouri state trooper assists a motorist who slid off the road in mid-Missouri on January 17, 2020 (photo courtesy of MSHP Troop F Twitter)

National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Andy Bailey notes heavily-traveled I-35 runs through Harrison County.

“Lots of slide offs, lots of accidents there and Harrison County has actually put out a request for people not to travel,” Bailey says.

Harrison County is located on the Missouri-Iowa border. Impacted towns include Bethany, Brooklyn and Gilman City.

The freezing rain also caused conditions to deteriorate Friday morning on I-35 between Cameron and Kearney. Reporter Jeremy Shields from Missourinet Cameron affiliate KMRN (AM 1360) reports he saw five tractor trailers jackknife this morning in that area. Shields says truck drivers struggled in the ice.

The NWS warns that road conditions across northern Missouri will be treacherous throughout the afternoon, because of heavy freezing rain and sleet. Bailey is urging motorists to stay off the road, if possible.

“If it is still snowing in northeast Missouri, that will probably change in the coming hours as that warm air overspreads the area turning things over to freezing rain up there,” says Bailey.

Freezing rain has also been happening in Trenton today.

As for mid-Missouri, Bailey says temperatures in Jefferson City and Columbia will stay at or below freezing until about 5 p.m., when they are expected to go above freezing. He emphasizes that one degree is critical.

Ice has been reported across central Missouri today, including Jefferson City, Columbia and Boonville.

Bailey also says overpasses and side streets were problematic earlier today in the Kansas City metro. A Lee’s Summit fire truck overturned this morning.

Meantime, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield has issued a flood watch through Saturday morning, across the Ozarks. Impacted towns include Springfield, Branson and Lebanon.

More than an inch of additional rainfall is possible tonight, into Saturday.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Andy Bailey, which was recorded on January 17, 2020:

Wet weather system, flash floods expected Friday, turning to snow and ice over weekend over most of Missouri

January 9, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

National Weather Service, St. Louis

A wet winter storm will move through Missouri over the next few days. A rare, winter flash flood watch is in effect for mid, eastern and southwest Missouri.

The National Weather Service, St. Louis office says the two main threats with the first wave of rain will be flash flooding and river flooding.

Friday night into Saturday, the rain will transition to snow and ice over central and northeast Missouri.

Friday night in the Kansas City and northwestern part of the state, there will be rain showers, snow showers and sleet, possibly mixed with freezing rain. Wind gusts could reach 29 mph. New snow and sleet accumulation of around an inch are possible.

The snow will continue up to five inches Saturday with little ice accumulation.

By Sunday, the temperatures and wet conditions will ease across the state

NWS survey teams checking tornado/storm damage in southern Missouri (AUDIO)

December 30, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service (NWS) says an EF-0 tornado touched down Saturday night in southwest Missouri’s Polk County, near Fair Play. There were no reports of injuries.

The National Weather Service (NWS) says a tornado touched down on December 28, 2019 near Fair Play, northwest of Springfield (map courtesy of NWS Springfield Twitter)

NWS Springfield meteorologist Mark Burchfield tells Missourinet the tornado was on the ground for about three minutes, with estimated peak winds of 80 miles per hour.

“There was some damage to some farm buildings along with some trees that were uprooted and snapped,” Burchfield says.

Fair Play is near the Polk-Cedar County border, northwest of Springfield. The NWS Springfield office issued numerous tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings Saturday night, across the Ozarks.

Meantime, the NWS says the storm damage done Saturday evening near the Missouri-Arkansas border was done by straight-line winds, not a tornado. Mr. Burchfield says NWS survey teams have been in southern Missouri’s Taney and Ozark counties today (Monday).

“There was also some uprooted trees and a little bit of other damage there, it looked like to maybe a parked tractor trailer unit that was parked that got moved a little bit,” says Burchfield.

He says the straight-line winds impacted the small towns of Rueter, Protem and Theodosia, near the Mark Twain National Forest.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Springfield meteorologist Mark Burchfield, which was recorded on December 30, 2019:

Train service across north Missouri suspended, after Brunswick railroad bridge collapse

October 3, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

(News director Bob Ehle at Missourinet Moberly affiliate KWIX contributed to this story)

Norfolk Southern has suspended freight train service between northern Missouri’s Moberly and Kansas City, because of the collapse of the heavily-traveled railroad bridge over the Grand River in Brunswick.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Missouri Basin River forecast center says backwater from flood debris caused a rail bridge to collapse in northern Missouri’s Brunswick (October 2, 2019 graphic courtesy of NWS Twitter page)

Brunswick is a farming community, between Carrollton and Moberly.

The bridge washed out Tuesday evening, after a debris strike caused by heavy rain. Brunswick emergency management director Brent Dickerson tells our Moberly affiliate KWIX (AM 1230) that trains could be re-routed.

“I did talk to one of the (train) engineers and I believe that they’re trying to run the railroad tracks from like Mexico, Missouri around to a different rail just north of Marshall, between here and Marshall,” Dickerson says.

There were no injuries in the collapse. Chariton County authorities have set up barricades, to keep boaters away from the area.

“A lot of decisions to be made with the bridge, do they go up (or) down, do they move it a little bit or what,” says Dickerson. “The city is trying to work the best they can trying to keep everything open for them or if we need to close streets or whatever we need to do.”

Brunswick marine access remains closed for safety reasons. The National Weather Service (NWS) Missouri Basin River forecast center says backwater from flood debris helped cause the bridge to collapse. The logjam collapsed the train tracks.

Virginia-based Norfolk Southern operates in 22 states, including Missouri. Their website says they are “a major transporter of industrial products” like chemicals and agriculture.

National Weather Service charts multiple Missouri rivers at flood stage through the weekend

May 30, 2019 By Ashley Byrd

Storms leave wind damage, 75,000 without power

July 8, 2014 By Mike Lear

A line of damaging storms hundreds of miles long continues to sweep south through Missouri. The storms have downed trees and power lines, caused some flooding and left tens of thousands of Missourians without power.

Storms continue to sweep south through the state and are still prompting the issuance of severe thunderstorm warnings. (image courtesy; WeatherTap Zoom)

Winds along the front of the storm were consistently between 50 and 75 miles per hour through Monday night and early Tuesday morning. Wind damage has been reported throughout the state. Some of the most significant reports came out of Hannibal, where law enforcement reported store front windows were broken out of three stores and several cars were moved, and in Sedalia, where two power poles caught fire as high winds whipped their lines.

At 2:30 a.m., Kansas City Power and Light reported more than 38,000 customers in Missouri without power, Ameren Missouri reported more than 22,000 customers without power in the St. Louis area and in central and north-central Missouri, and more than 15,000 customers of Columbia Water and Light were without power. The storms were only beginning to reach the Springfield area at that time.

For National Weather Service information for your area including watches and warnings, visit these NWS pages.

In northwest and western Missouri: Kansas City (Pleasant Hill)

In northeast and eastern Missouri: St. Louis

In southwest Missouri: Springfield

In southeast Missouri: Paducah, KY

Scotland and Clark counties: Davenport, IA

Severe storms continue, bring damage to Missouri

July 7, 2014 By Mike Lear

Storms are continuing to sweep south and east through Missouri and bring with them prolonged, potentially damaging winds. Winds of 50 to 70 miles an hour have been reported as the storms have advanced from northern Missouri.

Radar images from the Springfield (left) and St. Louis NWS radar, courtesy of Weathertap zoom.

Power has been reported out at times in several communities including Weston, Marshall, Sedalia and Columbia. The Pettis County Sheriff’s Department reported two power poles on fire since 11 p.m.

Reports of wind damage have included trees, limbs and power lines down and shingles off of roofs.

Some flooding has also been reported, particularly in areas where storm drains were overwhelmed by high rainfall totals in brief periods. An emergency manager in Kansas City says crews have been sent to a reported water rescue situation at the corner of 9th and Winner Road.

The Weather Service is warning of continuing flood possibilities and some warnings have been issued. Officials urge motorists not to drive into flooded roadways.