http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/winterstor_8013.mp3
A significant winter storm is making its way to Missouri. KSMU's Michele Skalicky has more...
National Weather Service Meteorologist Gene Hatch says precipitation will start today in the form of rain but will change over to freezing rain and sleet tonight...
"Accumulations of freezing rain along and north of I-44 could be up to a quarter of an inch. Once you get south of I-44, however, temperatures will lag a little bit. The freezing temperatures will hold off a little, which will allow more accumulation of freezing rain with up to 3/4 of an inch of ice accumulation possible for south of I-44. In addition, we could see sleet accumulations anywhere from 1/4 of an inch to, in some areas, up to an inch with the heaviest sleet accumulations along and south of I-44."
Hatch expects around a quarter inch of ice accumulation in the Springfield area overnight along with a quarter to a half inch of sleet.The heaviest accumulations of ice are expected from the Table Rock Lake region north and east into the West Plains region.
Early tomorrow morning, the freezing rain and sleet will change over to snow with significant accumulations expected in Southwest Missouri...
"At this point, all indications are areas along and north of I-44, and this would include the Springfield area, could see accumulations of six to 12 inches with some areas north of I-44 experiencing greater than a foot of snow. Once you get south of I-44, the accumulations are going to be a little bit less with amounts around the West Plains area from potentially one to two inches to as much as six inches to a foot the farther north you go."
Thunderstorms could occur within the storm system, which would result in heavier snowfall at times...
"This system is an extremely dynamic system, and, with that, we will have the potential of seeing some isolated rumbles of thunder with this storm as well. Anywhere that we do get something like that where you get some thunder with this type of precipitation, you could potentially see one to two inch per hour snowfall rates."
Blowing and drifting snow will be a problem this week with winds gusting to 20 to 30 miles per hour. Hatch says visibility could be reduced to a quarter of a mile at times, which will make travel dangerous...
"With the combination of the amount of snow, the wind and the ice--the Ozarks very very rarely experience blizzard-like conditions or a true blizzard, but I would say that these conditions would be blizzard-like at this point."
Scattered power outages are possible, mainly along and south of I-44.
He says once the storm system moves out, a very cold Arctic air mass will move in, dropping temperatures significantly for Wednesday and Thursday. Highs will be around 10 degrees to the mid teens with low temperatures overnight in the low single digits to below zero.