Winter weather returns to the region on Tuesday night with a mix of rain and snow that will transition to all snow.
QUIET DURING THE DAY TUESDAY
Tuesday will be quiet during the day with cloud cover on the increase through the morning. Eventually it will become overcast with highs in the lower to middle 40s.
TRACKING THE SNOW
Precipitation is expected to begin late Tuesday evening with a rain/snow mix that will transition over to snowfall overnight. Timing should be around, or after 7pm for much of mid-Missouri. Snow will continue into Wednesday with the bulk of the accumulating snow coming to an end by midday Wednesday. Light flurries will remain possible through much of the day.
The system is due to a low pressure system that will track through southeast Missouri. Since this low pressure system is going to be a good distance away, we’ll see lesser impacts for much of the region. The highest impacts will be for areas along and south of I-44 where a Winter Storm Warning is in place.
SNOW TOTALS & UNCERTAINTY
This system is still about a day away, but it is expected to be a bigger storm for the southeastern parts of the state. Temperatures are expected to range from the lower to middle 30s during this event, meaning a wet snow that will even do some melting once it falls. We’ll also need to watch for any dry air that can intrude on this storm, but this isn’t expected to be a main factor.
Most of mid-Missouri is expected to see 2-4” of snowfall. A few areas of locally higher amounts can’t be ruled out as you head south.
Snow totals in the range of 4-7+” will be possible for areas along and south of I-44, including all of southern Missouri, Rolla, Lake of the Ozarks and the St. Louis metro. Snowfall rates could approach 1″ per hour during the early morning hours near I-44. Travel along this interstate is likely to be rough.
Areas across northwest parts of the state may only see a dusting to an inch of snow.
The KOMU 8 Storm Mode Index will be at a 3 for this event, meaning that we expect issues, especially for areas south of Highway 50 to near I-44. This will not be a big snowfall, but will likely cause slow travel on Wednesday morning especially for southern parts of the region.
TRAVEL IMPACTS
Travel will likely be good through Tuesday evening, but conditions will start to deteriorate overnight into Wednesday morning. When snow begins roads will initially be wet and slushy, but are expected to become snow covered by Wednesday morning.
Road crews will likely struggle to pre-treat roads due to this system starting as rain, which would wash away the treatment.
Travel is likely to be at its worst on Wednesday morning. Snow will come to an end by midday Wednesday, so conditions should start to improve by the afternoon and evening due to the work of road crews and temperatures above freezing.
It would be a good idea to clear off your car, driveway, sidewalk, etc… Wednesday afternoon when temperatures are above freezing. The heavy and wet snow will freeze Wednesday night and be much more difficult to deal with on Thursday.
LOOKING AHEAD
Thursday will be a chilly day with morning temperatures in the mid 20s and highs in the 30s under cloudy skies.
We’ll get warmer on Friday and Saturday, prompting a good amount of snow melt before another chance of rain/snow returns on Sunday.
