93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
The National Weather Service (NWS) says unforgiving and dangerous winter conditions will be coming to mid-Missouri later this week.
NWS St. Louis meteorologist Melissa Mainhart says snow is expected to begin falling in Columbia and Jefferson City early Thursday morning, with plummeting temperatures after that.
“And for areas across mid-Missouri, we’re looking at the probability of two-plus inches is 60 to 80 percent. And the probability of four-plus inches in that same area is about 30 to 50 percent,” Mainhart says.
The NWS St. Louis is projecting that Columbia and Jefferson City will see two to four inches of snow by Thursday afternoon. Their office has issued two watches for the entire 939 the Eagle listening area. A winter storm watch is in effect from 6 am Thursday through 6 pm on Friday, and a wind chill watch is in effect from 6 pm Thursday through noon on Saturday.
The NWS says there’s a high potential for hazardous travel on Thursday through Thursday night. Ms. Mainhart also warns that temperatures will fall 35 to 40 degrees below normal by Friday morning.
“And with the strong winds that we’re expecting behind this Arctic cold front that’s going to be moving through the area, we’re going to have really strong wind chills, values falling negative 20 to negative 30 degrees. It’s going to be very dangerous for folks who are caught outside,” says Mainhart.
Blowing snow is also expected to be an issue. Keep fresh batteries with your radio and keep it tuned to 939 the Eagle for updated forecast information.
