Here’s when snow could arrive later this week. And what could happen next week
Snow is forecast to make its way into Wichita and other parts of the state Thursday night and linger into Friday.
A National Weather Service forecast shows a 20 percent chance of snow around 6 and 7 p.m. on Thursday, increasing to 60 percent after midnight.
“Snow is likely across much of the area beginning late Thursday night and lasting through Friday,” the NWS said. “Minor snow accumulations are anticipated in central and portions of south central Kansas at this time.”
At around 6 a.m. Friday, that snowfall is expected to turn into a snow-rain mix, persisting until noon and slowly then slowly moving east, NWS meteorologist Christian Williams said.
An AccuWeather snow and ice outlook model forecast a 41% chance of 2 to 4 inches of snowfall for Friday.
Even more could be coming early next week.
“Monday looks like a potential for a bigger storm system, but we’re still five days out,” Williams said.
The current forecast shows an 80 percent chance of snow on Monday, with nighttime forecasting “rain and snow likely” at 60 percent, according to an NWS forecast.
“Right now it’s kind of hard to give like a strong idea,” Williams said. “Right now we’re highlighting that there’s a potential impactful system that could hit the area on Monday.”
This week, before it snows, it’s likely to be foggy. A round of patchy dense fog is expected to move in Wednesday night for Wichita, south central and eastern Kansas, according to an NWS hazardous weather outlook. Here’s a detailed NWS forecast of the fog’s timing.
After the fog clears, Thursday will be partly sunny with a high near 42 and a 5 to 8 mph wind gust.
Friday will be cloudy with a high near 36. Saturday and Sunday will see a temporary break with cloudy temps in the 20s and 30s before the other storm system moves in.
This story was originally published January 3, 2024 at 4:12 PM.