After a quick appearance by springtime weather, we are set to return to wintry conditions Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
According to the National Weather Service, the KVOE listening area could see anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of snowfall between the late night to overnight hours. A light snowfall is expected to give way to near white-out conditions into Wednesday morning, leading to a winter weather advisory for nearly the entire area.
The advisory covers Lyon and most surrounding areas from 8 pm Tuesday to 3 am Wednesday. The only exception is Wabaunsee County, which is under a blizzard warning from 8 pm Tuesday to 4 pm Wednesday.
On top of the wintry precipitation, extremely high winds will also be an issue heading into Wednesday, with wind speeds between 50-70 mph at times. High wind warnings remain in place for the entire area affecting Lyon, Coffey, Morris, Osage and Wabaunsee counties until noon Wednesday and Chase and Greenwood counties until 9 am Wednesday.
High winds could lead to scattered power outages and affect drivers throughout the day, much like they did Tuesday morning. Early morning outages initially affected over 2,300 customers in places like Emporia, BETO Junction, Eureka, Hartford, Neosho Rapids, Reading and Waverly. Evergy Senior Communications Manager Courtney Lewis says high winds downed a wire and pole east of Emporia, causing several outages for parts of the area. Outages were largely resolved by 10 am.
High winds were also the main contributing factor to a reported injury crash on Interstate 35 near Emporia Tuesday morning. Lyon County Deputy Fernando Zuniga says a northbound semi was on its side just east of the Road U junction.
Zuniga says 28-year-old Thurlmon Mosley of Missouri was hauling an empty trailer when high winds caused the truck and trailer to flip onto its side. Emporia Fire extracted Mosley from the truck cab. Initially, deputies said Mosley was treated and did not need a hospital trip, but Zuniga says Mosley was eventually taken to Newman Regional Health for suspected minor injuries.
7:30 am Tuesday: Marginal severe weather risk, high wind warning, winter weather advisory ahead Tuesday; notable power outages develop before sunrise
From a marginal severe weather risk to near-blizzard conditions — it’s all part of a roughly 12-hour swing ahead for the KVOE listening area later Tuesday.
In a classic Kansas weather case of “hold my beer,” we will go from temperatures in the 60s and a low-end risk of hail and wind during the afternoon hours to light snowfall and near-whiteout conditions after sunset. TV-13 meteorologist Doug Meyers says the late-night and overnight travel conditions will be downright bad, even with an inch or two of snowfall at most.
Audio PlayerAll area counties are in a high wind warning from noon Tuesday to noon Wednesday, reflecting wind gusts as high as 50-70 mph. Those winds will likely cause blowing, drifting and near-blizzard conditions, leading to a winter weather advisory almost areawide from 8 pm Tuesday to 3 am Wednesday. Wabaunsee County is the exception, listed in a blizzard warning from 8 pm to 4 am.
The high winds could well lead to additional power outages, downed tree limbs and scattered Polycarts. Already Tuesday morning, elevated wind speeds have led to power outages initially affecting over 2,300 Evergy customers in places like Emporia, BETO Junction, Eureka, Hartford, Neosho Rapids, Reading and Waverly. Outage numbers briefly dropped considerably since the peak around 4 am Tuesday, only to go up to over 800 shortly before 7 am. Evergy Senior Communications Manager Courtney Lewis says high winds downed a wire and pole east of Emporia, causing several outages for parts of the area. Waverly, including Waverly High School, and 4 Rivers Electric Cooperative will be offline until repairs are finished.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates.
