News

Wednesday is one of Amtrak’s busiest days of the year. Volunteers said they have tripled their usual staff for Wednesday and Sunday. ABC 17 News talked to Amtrak’s MoDOT liason about national travel advisories put in place earlier this week. She confirmed that extra security staff will be placed on each train over the weekend.

Osage County deputies responded to a home in the 300 block of East Walker Street in Freeburg Wednesday for a report of an assault. While at the home, deputies saw meth and drug paraphernalia on a coffee table in the living room. Highway Patrol troopers and members of the Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Group responded

Many in Mid-Missouri are likely using St. Louis’ Lambert International Airport for holiday travel this year. The airport is expecting 60,000 people to depart from St. Louis in the coming days despite a travel alert over terrorist threats. ABC 17 News went to Lambert Airport on Wednesday morning to see if security was upgraded for

Those traveling through Mid-Missouri Wednesday night can expect to pay less at the pump. AAA reports more than half of all U.S. gas stations are selling gasoline for less than $2 per gallon Wednesday. Missouri is included in that group, averaging $1.86 per gallon. Experts said it’s the cheapest gasoline for this time of year

A slow moving cold front will send a band of moderate rain through Mid-Missouri Thursday evening through Friday morning. Rain will increase after 5 PM Thursday spreading southeast across the area through the night with pockets of heavy rain likely. The heaviest band of rain will shift to near I-44 by daybreak Friday but light

Free meals will be available for Thanksgiving on Thursday across Mid-Missouri. The late Almeta Crayton’s community program “Everybody Eats” will serve more than 500 people on Thanksgiving Day. Last year, the volunteers with the program roasted 68 turkeys and five hams. Volunteers will serve food from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Stamper Commons on

The Grainger branch in Columbia has officially closed its doors Wednesday. The Columbia branch on Vandiver Drive had three employees. The next closest branch is in Maryland Heights.

A man is now charged with making a terroristic threat after threatening to “shoot up” a Mid-Missouri high school. ABC 17 News obtained a probable cause statement that says 55-year-old Ronald Blackwell was leaving Mexico High School on November 5th when he made threatening statements toward faculty and officers. The documents say Blackwell became agitated

Two teenagers are charged with breaking into more cars, adding to the hundreds of vehicle break-ins police believe they are responsible for across the state. Boone County prosecutors said LaDarion Hunt and Michael Glasgow broke into multiple cars on the University of Missouri campus. Hunt and Glasgow are each charged with five felony counts of

In 2015 to date, there have been over 800 burglaries in Columbia, and while the holidays are a time of celebration for many, they also present an increased opportunity for criminals. The Boone County Sheriff’s Department said this is because thieves know people are traveling and they are aware that people have more items of

Polar air will run into tropical moisture for the Thanksgiving holiday and weekend, causing wintry weather across the Plains along with heavy rain from Texas through Missouri. WEDNESDAY: Travelers will encounter an increasing chance of rain heading north into Iowa and west into Kansas as rain will be likely ahead of a cold front. Thunderstorms

A strong El Nio continues as indicated by well above-average sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific ocean. A typical wind pattern associated with an El-Nino is expected for the start of winter. Tropical moisture will move into the southern states due to an extended and persistent pacific jet stream with the

Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing this weekend. And with cooler temperatures comes higher utility bills. Heating and cooling costs make up nearly 50 percent of the average household utility bills, according to Boone Electric Cooperative. “They need to start thinking about their heating system now,” Christi Miller with Boone Electric Cooperative said. “It’s

In anticipation of inclement weather, Mid-Missouri schools have policies for adjusting the school day accordingly. “We look at a number of factors when determining whether or not we need to have school or if we need to have a delayed start. One of the things that we do when we look at whether or not

While several factors affect forecasting wintry weather, in the past five years technology upgrades have really improved our ability to tell you what type of precipitation is falling. Since we’re located in the central U.S., Missouri typically experiences all types of precipitation between November and March. But outside conditions can be deceiving, especially if temperatures

Unlike last winter, we have a major player which could affect our weather pattern through winter. A strong El-Nino is developing and we’re expecting it to play a big part in this winter’s temperatures and snowfall. When forecasting snow and temperature for the upcoming winter, teleconnection patterns are often used. Teleconnection patterns reflect large scale

Due to our inland location, winters in Mid-Missouri can be long with temperatures ranging from mild to bitterly cold. In fact, the record low temperature is -40 degrees which occurred in 1905. The average temperature for our winter months is around 32 degrees. Our coldest month tends to be January, where we really start to

We look at several things when determining how much snow will fall. First, we look at how much liquid precipitation the storm will produce then convert that to inches of snow. To do this we need to determine the snow to liquid equivalent. The snow to liquid equivalent is the amount of liquid precipitation that

Forecasting wintry weather in Mid-Missouri can be tricky because we’re located in the mid-latitudes. That means the freezing line tends to wobble right over us. This can present several forecasting challenges, especially when trying to forecast winter precipitation days out from an event. Temperatures play a huge role in winter forecasting. We look at temperatures

A 20-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a shooting on Business Loop 70 East in Columbia on October 20. Gerrell Eugene Lawrence is charged with armed criminal action, first degree assault, and unlawful use of a weapon. His bond is set for now at $4,500. A warrant for his arrest has been out