Planning to travel in Kansas for Thanksgiving? Here’s the snow forecast for Wichita
If you are planning to travel in central Kansas on Thanksgiving morning, you may want to bring an ice scraper.
A wintry mix of snow, sleet and rain is expected Thursday morning in Wichita as National Weather Service forecasters predict an 80% chance of precipitation in the city.
More snow is expected the farther north you go in Kansas, with the latest forecast map from the weather service showing snow generally north of a line from Hutchinson to McPherson to Topeka and a wintry mix south of that line. Light snow accumulation is possible in central Kansas, according to the forecast, which is current as of Monday afternoon.
In Wichita, NWS forecasters say there is a 50% chance for snow starting Wednesday night, when the low temperature is expected to be around 31 degrees. If there is precipitation, it is expected to start as snow before 4 a.m. on Thursday, then turn to rain and snow, then rain, snow and freezing rain after 5 a.m. The wind is expected to be calm.
Thanksgiving day has an 80% chance for precipitation in the city with snow expected before 7 a.m., then a mix of snow and sleet, followed by rain after 10 a.m. The high temperature will be near 42 degrees.
Black Friday has a 60% chance for rain and a high at around 60 degrees in Wichita.
Additional information is available from regional NWS offices in Dodge City, Goodland and Topeka.
Thanksgiving travel safety and gas prices
Multiple law enforcement agencies in the state, including the Kansas Highway Patrol and Wichita Police Department, plan a special traffic enforcement over the holiday week. Dubbed “Thanksgiving Safe Arrival,” the operation runs Monday through Sunday. The grant-funded traffic safety campaign specifically targets drunken and drugged drivers, as well as people who don’t wear their seat belts.
The Kansas Department of Transportation reports that data shows the day before Thanksgiving has the most impairment-related crashes of any day of the year.
Auto club AAA estimates that 49 million Americans will be traveling on the roads for the holiday and that gas prices this week will be similar to or cheaper than last year for most travelers. As of Monday, the national average for regular gas prices is $2.59, compared to the $2.57 a gallon average over last year’s holiday weekend.
In Kansas, the average gas price is $2.34, according to AAA. The average in Sedgwick County is $2.28, which is about 9 cents higher than the average a year ago.
Road conditions, snowplows and closings
The Kansas Division of Emergency Management encourages travelers to prepare a home emergency kit that includes food, water, medications, extra clothing, flashlights and batteries, battery-operated NOAA weather radio and other necessities. When traveling during winter storms, fill the fuel tank, charge your cellphone and bring an emergency kit, the agency advises.
Internet users can follow the paths of Wichita snowplows at www.wichita.gov/PWU/Pages/SnowRemoval.aspx.
Drivers can check Kansas highway road conditions at www.kandrive.org/kandrive. Kansas Department of Transportation statewide highway traffic cameras and Wichita cameras are also available online.
If you know of a closing, cancellation or postponement because of the snowstorm, please email details to The Wichita Eagle at online@wichitaeagle.com.
Snow and temperature records
The National Weather Service forecast as of Monday afternoon did not include estimated snowfall amounts for Thanksgiving day in Wichita.
The NWS records show more than 1.8 inches of snow would be needed to break the maximum snowfall record for Nov. 28, which was set in 1918. The maximum precipitation record is 0.79 inches.
As for temperature, the record low is 5 degrees. The record high is 72 degrees, the coolest high is 22 degrees and the warmest low is 54 degrees.
One weather record, which was more than 100 years old, has been broken so far this month. A record low was set Nov. 12 at 8 degrees. The previous record for that day was 9 degrees, set in 1911. NWS data show Nov. 12 is the earliest that single-digit temperatures have been recorded in the fall.
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 6:58 PM.