Winter

Low-barrier homeless shelters open for the winter months starting Sunday, Dec. 1. With thousands of unhoused people in the Kansas City area and only a few hundred beds, many individuals will still be left out in the cold.

Kansas City's neighboring city of Excelsior Springs has a range of holiday activities to explore spanning from now until the end of the year — including markets full of locally-made goods and an enormous hall of Christmas trees.

Riding a bike to get groceries, walking from your house to the bus stop, or even just getting a ride to work can be a challenge in Kansas City in severe winter weather. While the city and state transportation officials clear streets, residents without cars say bike lanes, sidewalks and bus stops don't get the same attention.

Instead of staying inside your house, why not discover something new around Kansas City? Here are some of the metro's best-kept secrets for winter weather activities, recommended by residents like you.

After an especially cold month, Kansas City residents can expect energy and gas bills sometimes topping $200. Utilities like Evergy, Spire and Ameren need approval on their rates from regulators in Missouri and Kansas.

Despite recent outbreaks of intense arctic air — dropping Kansas City's temperatures below zero — winter has been the fastest-warming season for most of the Midwest. In fact, these brutal cold snaps might be another consequence of climate change.

Across greater Kansas City, at least 3,000 people live at least part-time on the streets. This January, trench foot, frostbite and COVID-19 are surging.

The cold front will still be expansive, bringing dangerous cold temperatures into the Midwest. Wind chills ranging from negative-15 to negative-30 are expected in Kansas City through Saturday morning.

Each winter for nearly four years, Monique Litchman and Jeffrey Dungan each navigated life in Kansas City without a place to call home. At times, refuge was a homeless shelter, but sometimes, they stayed outside in the dangerously cold elements.

Nearly 70 people were treated for hypothermia or frostbite at Saturday's wild-card game between the Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, which was the fourth-coldest game in NFL history. Fifteen people were hospitalized.

Due to the extreme cold, Kansas City, Missouri, activated its emergency cold weather plan. Ten shelters across the city will add more capacity to their existing space. Other shelters and warming centers around the region will open to keep people warm.

The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Miami Dolphins at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday night in what will likely be the venue's coldest game ever. KCUR's Up To Date spoke with three Chiefs reporters about the matchup, and heard from two season ticket holders about how they're preparing for the frigid temperatures.