Weather Alert Day: Snow winding down, strong winds remain

AFTERNOON UPDATE (3:15 PM): Snow showers have tapered off quite a bit across the northern portion of the area, with ongoing snow for areas east of Highway 54 and south of Lake of the Ozarks. Clouds stick around tonight along with gusty winds, so travel might be tricky into the evening commute despite the snow coming to an end. Road temperatures have stayed above freezing for much of Mid-Missouri with the exception of areas near Highway 65 where more slick spots are possible this evening. Snow totals have ranged between a dusting and 2" for much of the region. Winds will gust up to 25 mph, keeping wind chills in the teens overnight into Saturday morning. A few slick spots are possible on elevated surfaces like bridges and overpasses with temperatures falling into the upper 20s.

A Weather Alert Day is in effect until 7:00 PM Friday with light snow showers and gusty winds continuing into the evening commute.

Synopsis:

A strong low pressure system to our northeast Thursday will slowly track southeast through Friday into the weekend, sending moisture in our direction with strong forcing in place. With the center of circulation so close, winds have been gusting to about 30-40 mph. Blizzard warnings are in place across much of Iowa and northwest Missouri with several inches of snow possible with sustained winds in excess of 30 mph.

Timing:

Snow showers are moving into mid-Missouri this morning, starting across the northern portion of the state. There could be some embedded heavier snow bands that flare up during the afternoon, bringing isolated higher snowfall amounts. Snow showers finally taper off by early to mid-evening, but gusty winds stick around into Friday night and early Saturday morning.

Impacts:

Snow showers will move in early this morning, but could become steadier after sunrise. Accumulation will range between 1-3", with isolated pockets of slightly higher amounts. With temperatures near freezing much of the day and road temperatures above freezing after a mild few days, roads will likely be in good shape to start off, but could get slushy as snow starts to accumulate.

Elevated surfaces like overpasses and bridges will be more slick as they'll be exposed, especially tonight and Saturday morning.

Wind gusts between 30-40 mph will create visibility issues all of Friday into Friday evening even as snowfall comes to an end. Driving conditions will be poor with blowing snow much of the day. Wind chills will remain in the mid-teens to around 20 through early evening.

Stay with ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather as snow moves in and get live radar updates on abc17news.com/weather.