- While there will be widespread heavy snow (defined at 4″ or more), it will combine with high winds and low visibilities over parts of eastern Kansas Saturday night and Sunday.
- Like the snow, there will be widespread freezing rain south of I-70 in Kansas and south of U.S. 50 in Missouri and along/south of I-64 in Illinois.
- With several days of winter cold following the ice storm, it will be important to care for people who have lost power.
Forecast details are below. As this major winter storm looms, my ice storm forecast is at the top and the heavy snow forecast as farther down.
Ice storm conditions are likely in the dark green area and possible in the medium green areas.
The are areas in the darkest green area that reach a category 3 on the Sperry-Piltz Ice Storm Index which means:
- Numerous utility interruptions with some damage to main feeder electrical lines and equipment expected. Some outages lasting 1 to 5 days.
Over Kansas, winds are forecast to gust to 35 mph in places. In Ozarks are forecasts to be lighter but accumulations of freezing rain are forecast to be greater which will also be the case farther east into the Ohio Valley.
If you live in these areas, it is important to begin preparations for potential power outages…