Brutal cold and blowing snow look to be quite likely for the entire KVOE listening area for Thursday.
Lyon, Coffey, Morris, Osage and Wabaunsee counties are now in a winter storm watch from 12 am Thursday to 12 am Friday, with Chase and Greenwood counties in a related watch from 12 am to 6 pm Thursday. The National Weather Service is now expecting at least four inches of snowfall areawide.
This coincides with wind chill watches for all area counties. Lyon, Coffey, Morris, Osage and Wabaunsee counties are in one watch from 6 am Thursday to 12 am Friday, while Chase and Greenwood counties are in a separate watch from 12 am Thursday to 12 am Friday. Wind gusts of 40 mph or higher will cause blizzard conditions and wind chill readings of -25 to -40.
Travel is strongly discouraged, according to Weather Service meteorologist Kris Craven.
Already, schedule adjustments are starting to be announced. Click here for the KVOE.com Closings and Cancellations page provided by Bluestem Farm and Ranch.
If you have schedule adjustments to report, whether they are closings, cancellations, postponements or delays, call KVOE at 620-342-1400, email kvoe@kvoe.com or message the Bluestem Farm and Ranch text line at 620-342-5863.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates this week.
11:15 am Monday: Wind chill watch posted west, south of Emporia for late Wednesday through Friday morning
Confidence is increasing for accumulating snowfall Wednesday.
Confidence has been high for days when it comes to a blast of cold air affecting the Central Plains, and the combination of snowfall and wind gusts at or above 40 mph Thursday could cause all sorts of hazards. TV-13 meteorologist Doug Meyers says a blizzard warning is possible for Thursday.
Projected snow amounts have not been announced yet, but the National Weather Service says snowfall is not needed for a blizzard warning. Visibility has to be a quarter-mile or less and wind gusts need to be at least 35 mph for a three-hour stretch for a blizzard warning to be issued.
Regardless of whether that happens, extreme cold is expected to close out the work week. Thursday morning’s wind chills could be -20 to -30, and Friday morning’s wind chills could be -30 to -40. The Weather Service says this could well be the coldest Christmas-time air to hit eastern Kansas since the late 1980s, so Chase and Greenwood counties are now in a wind chill watch from late Wednesday night through Friday morning.
Precipitation amounts for Monday were minimal and there was no snowfall accumulation as temperatures stayed above 35 degrees:
*KVOE studios: 0.10 inches
*Emporia Municipal Airport: 0.04 inches
*1100 block Constitution: 0.05 inches
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates this week.
6:50 am Monday: Light rain-snow mix anticipated Monday, snow and sharply colder air coming later this week
To this point, the KVOE listening area has avoided any wintry driving conditions.
That could well be changing over the next week, starting with a light mix of wintry precipitation Monday morning. TV-13 meteorologist Doug Meyers says this will likely be a nuisance, based on temperatures above freezing for the morning hours.
More light snow is possible Wednesday before biting cold hits the area Wednesday night. The main weather concern actually begins Wednesday night as Siberian air overspreads most of the area. Wednesday night’s low will be around zero with wind chills possibly -25. After a high of 5 and wind chills under -10 all day Thursday, the low will approach -10 and wind chills could be near -30.
We’ll keep you updated on KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media.
