Dry air winning out in snow battle

You may have noticed that our ABC 17 Stormtrack Doppler Radar has been indicating snow all day long, but none of it has actually been hitting the ground (outside of isolated locations). The reason for this has a lot to do with the dry air aloft.

Through most of the day today, the bottom 5000 feet of the atmosphere has been significantly dry. Dew points at the surface have been sitting in the teens for most of the day with temperatures holding steady near freezing, this indicates a very dry atmosphere. Precipitation of any kind can’t survive in a dry environment, so as the snow has been falling it evaporates in the lower portion of the atmosphere. It’s for this reason that many locations have stayed on the dry side today.

With that said, extreme western portions of Mid-Missouri have seen some flurries to brief bursts of snowfall. The reason why goes back to the same process as mentioned above. As the snow evaporates, it releases mositure back into the atmosphere and increases the saturation. As the air nears saturation the snowflake safely makes it to the ground. This is what’s occurring in areas like Sedalia, Warsaw, and even as far west as Kansas City.

The problem now lies with the fact that the arctic air is overriding the snowfall. This is creating an additional layer of drier air at the surface, which is preventing any snow from hitting the ground once more. At best, as we head through the rest of the evening a few flurries can be expected near the Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir area. Not a lot is expected in the way of accumulation, with a dusting becoming the only viable option.

It looks like dry air wins out this time when it comes to the snowfall. If the dry air hadn’t been there, Mid-Missouri would have had nice, white, fluffy snowflakes.