A deeper dive into Thursday’s wintry mix
Scattered showers are expected to begin around midnight heading into Thursday morning. These showers are expected to transform into a wintery mix bring the possibility of snow, rain, and sleet to Central Missouri. Thankfully, two things are working against this incoming low pressure system to aid in safer travels for the Thursday commute.
The first factor is the lack of moisture and the timing of the moisture. This system does not look to drop much in total of rainfall or snow due to the lower jet stream not being able to transport much of the wetter air from the gulf of Mexico which typically occurs for many of Missouri's precipitation producing systems.
The second factor working against higher snowfall totals is the temperatures. This is divided into two separate pieces. The first is the air temperature, and the second is the surface temperatures. The high in Columbia Missouri reached 59 degrees Wednesday afternoon. This allows the surface temperature and upper layers of the soil to warm up also. When the moisture in the atmosphere begins to fall below or at freezing and precipitation switches over to snow, the majority of the snowfall will melt upon contact with the earths surface. Roadways will see up to wet slush, while elevated and grassy surfaces will see a dusting and up to an inch.
Surface temperatures forecasted for Thursday morning at 7 AM look to remain at or above average aiding in the melting of any snowfall on roadways.