Friday, February 15, 2008
A Cold Rain...And Even Snow!
Bright and early this morning, we're talking 3 AM, I checked my crystal ball. No, not really! That crystal ball is synonymous with our weather models. It takes me several minutes to check out each one...looking from the lowest layer of the atmosphere up through about 30,000 feet.
Those models are saying something different from a few days ago...and that difference will play a critical part in our weekend plans.
Earlier this week, a storm pegged for late Saturday/Sunday, was forecasted to pass through Texas. Now, this storm wants to track just slightly South of Kansas City, bringing us rain and eventually snow.
Even though temperatures cooled due to an arctic front late Thursday, slight warming is expected by Saturday. Of course, right now I'm hearing the words of friend and mentor, Chief Meteorologist Bryan Busby, running through my head. He said, "Arctic air is like molasses. It's slow to move out and slow to modify." However, in this case it will be different. This storm will rapidly pull up warmer air from Texas not only at the surface but thousands of feet up. This could bump Saturday's afternoon high temperature into the 40s.
The National Weather Service out of Pleasant Hill has alluded to the idea of issuing both a Flood Watch and a Winter Storm Watch for this weekend. This storm looks to start as rain by Saturday evening...and there could be a lot of it! A couple of inches of heavy rain is not out of the question. Lightning and thunder could make Saturday night/early Sunday morning a unique experience!
There is still a question of when the colder air will arrive on Sunday. It could arrive as early as 4 AM and change everything from rain to a wintry mix to all snow. If the colder air holds off, then we'll see just rain. Gut feeling on this storm is that it's primarily a rainmaker instead of snow. But, a few locations could see periods of heavy snow throughout the day on Sunday, depending on where and when that heavy snow develops.
Of course, this system could drift 50 miles South and we might not see much of anything.
Keep it tuned to KMBC 9 News for further weather updates. Meteorologist Pete Grigsby and I will track this developing storm for you and your family through the weekend.
Those models are saying something different from a few days ago...and that difference will play a critical part in our weekend plans.
Earlier this week, a storm pegged for late Saturday/Sunday, was forecasted to pass through Texas. Now, this storm wants to track just slightly South of Kansas City, bringing us rain and eventually snow.
Even though temperatures cooled due to an arctic front late Thursday, slight warming is expected by Saturday. Of course, right now I'm hearing the words of friend and mentor, Chief Meteorologist Bryan Busby, running through my head. He said, "Arctic air is like molasses. It's slow to move out and slow to modify." However, in this case it will be different. This storm will rapidly pull up warmer air from Texas not only at the surface but thousands of feet up. This could bump Saturday's afternoon high temperature into the 40s.
The National Weather Service out of Pleasant Hill has alluded to the idea of issuing both a Flood Watch and a Winter Storm Watch for this weekend. This storm looks to start as rain by Saturday evening...and there could be a lot of it! A couple of inches of heavy rain is not out of the question. Lightning and thunder could make Saturday night/early Sunday morning a unique experience!
There is still a question of when the colder air will arrive on Sunday. It could arrive as early as 4 AM and change everything from rain to a wintry mix to all snow. If the colder air holds off, then we'll see just rain. Gut feeling on this storm is that it's primarily a rainmaker instead of snow. But, a few locations could see periods of heavy snow throughout the day on Sunday, depending on where and when that heavy snow develops.
Of course, this system could drift 50 miles South and we might not see much of anything.
Keep it tuned to KMBC 9 News for further weather updates. Meteorologist Pete Grigsby and I will track this developing storm for you and your family through the weekend.
Posted at 5:45 AM by Lisa Teachman
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