Kansas City is set to experience a bit of weather whiplash this weekend, with highs reaching the low 70s on Saturday giving way to a strong storm moving into the area on Sunday and below-freezing temperatures through Tuesday.
National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Bowman said Saturday will bring above-normal temperatures to Kansas City, but a storm system will move into the area late that night, bringing Sunday morning showers and thunderstorms.
“For the weather on Sunday: You name it, we could see it,” Bowman said. “Thunderstorms, potentially on the strong to maybe severe side. And then that cold front moves through.”
Bowman said the storm could also bring a mix of rain and snow, a wintry mix or freezing rain.
“Everything is at play on Sunday with the system coming through,” Bowman said.
The cold front will bring strong winds, too, with gusts possibly reaching 50 mph by Sunday evening. Temperatures will plummet from mid- to low-50s in the morning down to under 30 degrees by 9 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Overnight Sunday into Monday morning, temperatures will drop into the single digits when factoring the wind chill.
Kansas City may not see temperatures get above freezing until Tuesday.
“It's going to be quite a dynamic system moving through,” Bowman said.
Bowman said a combination of snow and high wind could potentially lead to “near blizzard conditions” — not because Kansas City is predicted to get a lot of snow, but because of the wind factor.
“That leads to that reduction in visibility, which is the key for blizzard conditions,” Bowman said.
Still, this weekend’s forecast isn’t one to panic-buy over, as snowfall and precipitation totals are predicted on the low side. Rather, it’s a 24- to 36-hour time frame of cold and potentially severe weather.
“It's just that we're going to basically be experiencing all four seasons in a span of 24 hours,” Bowman said.
