Winter Storm Watch Valid Friday Morning through Saturday Evening

A Winter Storm Watch will be valid starting at midnight on Friday morning through Saturday at 6PM. A mix of freezing rain and sleet will increase south of the Missouri River near the Lake of the Ozarks by 6AM-8AM on Friday. Accumulation of ice is possible at this time. By Friday afternoon this lifts north near the Missouri River into Jefferson City, and eventually I-70 by evening. This will change to all freezing rain by Friday night for nearly all of Mid-Missouri. Highest ice accumulation looks to occur across the Ozarks and I-44. Most areas look to get 0.10″ to 0.25″ of ice by Saturday morning. There is much uncertainty still as the track will change a bit in the next 48 to 72 hours.

As a frame of reference the ice storm in the Springfield area and Ozarks of 2007 had 1 and 1/2″ of ice. However, 0.25″ of ice can cause power lines to fail and tree limbs to snap. Highest power outages looks to be near Camden, Morgan, and Benton counties where the highest ice accumulation is possible. For additional weather updates follow @ABC17Stormtrack on Twitter.