The freezing rain trend through the weekend
It is Friday and the advertised ice storm is upon us, but many on social media are questioning if they will ever see freezing rain. As of Friday afternoon, the ABC 17 Stormtrack Doppler Radar has most of the activity situated along and south of the I-70 corridor.
This is a 48 – 60 hour event, so even though the ice is moving in slowly, it will hit mid-Missouri and accumulate as the weekend progresses. But if you are not seeing any freezing rain right now, this does not mean that the forecast is a bust. Latest satellite imagery shows a large swath of moisture back off to our southwest. 
This moisture is already causing a line of freezing rain to form from Oklahoma all the way into southwestern Missouri. This line of freezing rain will take its time to get here, and that is why the ice storm warning is in effect through Sunday. Most of the activity for mid-Missouri will hold off until we head into the Saturday and early Sunday morning time frame. This was never advertised as just a Friday event, but an event that will gradually unfold as we head into the weekend.
The general timeline is as follows:
Friday: Slow and spotty mainly south of I-70.
Saturday: Lull in activity through the afternoon hours, with increased coverage lifting northward through the evening hours. Greatest accumulation will occur Saturday night.
Sunday: Freezing rain transitioning into rain from south to north. It is likely that areas north of Hwy 24 will not see much activity until Sunday morning arrives.
Latest projections still have significant accumulations possible as we head through the weekend. Again, we want to stress that this will not occur all at once, it will occur over a period of 48-60 hours.
ABC 17 Stormtrackers will continue to keep you updated as we head into the weekend. There is no magic when it comes to forecasting and it requires a lot of analysis and combing over data. Winter weather is tricky to forecast because one small element missing can mean the difference of accumulating freezing rain and a trace. Our biggest question with this storm is the freezing line and where it will be when the greatest moisture begins to arrive into the area.
Stay tuned to ABC 17 News for the latest details.
