New Year’s winter storm could give Kansas a quarter-inch of ice, several inches of snow
Meteorologists are predicting as much as a quarter-inch of ice and several inches of snow across parts of Kansas over the New Year’s holiday.
The National Weather Service office in Wichita has issued a winter storm watch for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The advisory include portions of central, south-central and southeast Kansas in the NWS Wichita service area.
“Heavy mixed precipitation possible,” forecasters wrote in the advisory. “Total snow accumulations of 2 to 5 inches and ice accumulations of a quarter to three tenths of an inch possible.”
The storm will start with a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain that will transition to snow across much of central Kansas, according to an NWS hazardous weather outlook. The Flint Hills and portions of southeast Kansas are expected to get freezing rain and sleet.
Drivers should plan for slippery road conditions Thursday evening through Friday afternoon, the weather service said. Power outages from downed limbs are also possible.
A quarter-inch of ice can be a nuisance that makes travel more dangerous, or it can be disruptive with damage to trees and power lines, causing power outages, The Weather Channel reports.
In Wichita, the NWS forecast calls for snow starting Thursday night, transitioning to sleet at around 3 a.m. Friday, then snow and sleet after 4 a.m. and patchy blowing snow after 5 a.m. The chance of precipitation is 100%, with new snow and sleet accumulation of 1-3 inches possible.
The overnight low temperature will be around 28 degrees with a blustery northeast wind of 18-23 mph after midnight. Wind gusts could be as high as 32 mph.
The snow is expected to continue until around 11 a.m., when it transitions to snow and freezing rain before returning to all snow around noon and continuing until around 5 p.m. The chance of precipitation is 90%.
The daytime high temperature will be near 33 degrees, with wind gusts of up to 32 mph.
The Wichita forecast and winter storm watch were current as of Wednesday afternoon. The hazardous weather outlook was last updated Wednesday morning.
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 3:56 PM.