This story was most recently updated at 7:42 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2024.
Local businesses, city and state government offices and school buildings are closed Monday as the heavy snowstorm sweeping across the country blankets Kansas City in deep snow.
The National Weather Service reports that the final snowfall for Sunday's storm was 11 inches — the fourth largest recorded single-day total in Kansas City, and the most snow since January 1962.
As an overall storm, the NWS said this weekend's blizzard is tied for Kansas City's 12th largest, and the biggest in three decades.
At least three people were killed in car crashes in Kansas, and one person died in Missouri. Dozens more people were injured.
The final snowfall total for Sunday (1/5) at Kansas City International was 11.0". This is the 4th largest single calendar day snowfall on record in Kansas City (dating back to 1888). The top 3? 3/23/1912 (16.1"), 1/18/1962 (11.8"), and 2/27/1900 (11.8").
— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) January 6, 2025
Shawnee Mission, Raymore-Peculiar and Kansas City Public Schools will not open doors to students for at least the first day of the school week, alongside dozens of other districts. The University of Missouri - Kansas City is operating remotely on Monday.
Evergy had restored power to most who lost it, but just over 1,000 customers lacked electricity as of 7:34 p.m. Sunday.
At that same point, Independence Power and Light reported that it had restored power to the five customers who had lost it during an earlier outage, and the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities reported no customers without power, though some had lost it earlier in the day.
Roads across Kansas City were covered in snow, with slowdowns and collisions reported due to poor driving conditions. You can check the status of roads in Missouri using the Missouri Department of Transportation’s road conditions map here, and in Kansas using the KanDrive map here.
“We have several hundred trucks out on the streets, up to 300, that are addressing issues right now," Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said at a Sunday press conference. "This will be an operation that we expect to continue for several days.”
Lucas says a few dozen people are stranded at Kansas City International Airport, so the city is keeping restaurants open “to make sure people who are at KCI airport have something to eat, something to drink and certainly have as hospitable stay in Kansas City as they can, given the circumstances.”
The latest National Weather Service forecast doesn't show additional snow this week, but with temperatures below 30 degrees persisting until Friday, accumulated snow drifts are likely to linger. Wind gusts of at least three miles per hour and up to 18 miles per hour are expected through Tuesday evening.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly ordered state offices in Topeka to be closed Monday. Kansas City Hall is also closed Monday and Tuesday, and the municipal court will hold hearings virtually.
City Manager Brian Platt said trash and recycling are canceled Monday and Tuesday, so those who regularly get pickup those days will not have garbage retrieved until next week. He said additional days this week could be canceled, as well.
“When temperatures get into single digits, it’s unsafe for our workers to be out there," Platt said. "We don’t want to put our own employees at risk.”
RideKC suspended its Freedom and IRIS services Sunday due to poor road conditions. All Kansas City Area Transportation Authority buses are open to be used as warming shelters, and brick and mortar warming centers across the city have opened due to low temperatures.
The Kansas City Streetcar, which ceased operations due to deteriorating weather conditions and limited visibility earlier Sunday morning, resumed operation as of 8:45 a.m. Sunday.
Many businesses closed early Saturday and remained closed Sunday. Staff at the Kansas City Zoo and Aquarium stayed overnight Saturday to care for the animals.
