Live updates: Snow, dangerous wind chills arrive, traffic already impacted in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Snow and dangerous wind chills have arrived in the Kansas City region.

KSHB 41 News is keeping you updated with everything you need to know.

Check back throughout the day for updates.

RESOURCES:

• What to include in your winter travel emergency kit
• Road travel information to and from Kansas City
• Travel websites to keep close by
• Tips for traveling by air
• Latest forecast information
• Warming shelters in Kansas City area
  
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  • Kansas City, Kansas
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4:03 p.m. | Here's the latest number of customers affected by outages across the Kansas City area.

Evergy: 3,287 customers (Largest concentration is 802 customers in Baldwin City, Kansas)

BPU: Seven customers

Platte-Clay Electric: One customer

Independence Power and Light: Zero customers

2:14 p.m. | KSHB 41 News chief meteorologist Mike Nicco said the storm is slowly being eliminated as it moves east.

2:10 p.m. | Jackson County said it'll close all county facilities at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday due to temperatures and road conditions.

Customers in line by 3 p.m. will be assisted, and facilities will reopen at 8 a.m. on Friday.

Judicial offices of the 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County will remain closed on Friday.

2:08 p.m. | Overland Park reported it finished treating streets at around 6:00 a.m. on Thursday.

Crews have plowed most thoroughfares and are moving into residential streets with plows.

The city said it expects all city streets plowed by late Thursday or early Friday morning.

1:30 p.m. | While the snow has stopped falling, wind gusts continue to blow snow across streets. Road crews are having to battle traction issues, too.

1:09 p.m. | Power has been restored to the area of southern Liberty that experienced an outage nearly just over six hours ago.

11:34 a.m. | Footage from a Liberty Police Department cruiser captured the cause of the power outage in Liberty Thursday morning.

Police report the video was taken around 6:40 a.m. near Missouri 291 and Kent Street.

10:27 a.m. | Most RideKC buses are running regular routes, but delays due to road conditions are to be expected across the bi-state area.

10:23 a.m. | Liberty police issued an update that several Evergy crews are working on the ongoing power outage.

Crews are hoping to have power restored in the next two hours.

10:02 a.m. | Road conditions near Rockhill Road and 63rd are proving challenging for vehicles with front-wheel drive.

9:37 a.m. | The KSHB 41 team is safely enjoying the blustery winter weather. Any photos you take can be sent to the team at pics@kshb.com

9:31 a.m. | Trash service has been suspended in Prairie Village for Thursday and Friday pick-up.

Trash collection in KCMO was also canceled for Thursday and Friday.

9:20 a.m. | The National Weather Service office in Kansas City recorded a timelapse showing the temperatures plummeting overnight into the early morning hours.

9:15 a.m. | Between midnight and 8 a.m., the Missouri State Highway Patrol responded to 96 calls for service, the agency posted to social media.

MSHP says only one person was injured.

8:51 a.m. | Passengers at KCI say they are not so much frustrated or disappointed with delays and cancellations as much as they are accepting, having already prepared to go with the flow.

8:45 a.m. | Power outages have gone down slightly since the 7 a.m. hour. About 11,610 customers in KC are affected.

8:40 a.m. | Viewers from across Kansas City have submitted photos and videos of snow blanketing the metro.

8:34 a.m. | After three hours, the banana hammer experiment has come to a successful close.

8:11 a.m. | On the Kansas side, visibility is low on I-35.

8:04 a.m. | Wind gusts of about 30-40 mph are blowing in south Overland Park where meteorologist Jeff Penner says about 1" of snow has accumulated.

7:41 a.m. | Kansas City, Missouri, City Manager Brian Platt says city snow plows are using Ice Ban, a new salt product that works at lower temperatures, to maintain roadways ahead of a "long and cold" day.

7:29 a.m. | Driving visibility is impaired by near blizzard-like conditions.

From the KSHB 41 Storm Tracker, Daniela Leon reports snow is sticking to the roads at a rapid rate.

7:24 a.m. | While the banana hammer has been sitting out since 4:30 a.m., it is not yet ready. But after only 10 minutes, a pair of pants were frozen solid.

7:20 a.m. | A heavy band of snow has arrived in the KC area.

Be aware of how quickly frostbite can set in when low temperatures mix with extreme wind gusts.

7:08 a.m. | In the span of about 40 minutes, Evergy outages increased from 78 to 186. Nearly 12,615 customers in the Kansas City area are affected.

View the outage map HERE.

Some of the outages are centered in Liberty, where the police department says a couple of transformers caught fire near Missouri 291 and Brown Street.

6:53 a.m. | City Union Mission is opening its doors to the homeless.

The men's shelter at 1108 E. 10th St. is open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The women's shelter at 1310 Wabash Ave. is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

6:16 a.m.| Road conditions continue to deteriorate as snow moves into the area.

Markings are indiscernible on Missouri 152 as wind chills continue to drop near the -20s.

6:07 a.m. | Besides the banana experiment, Peery is testing the ideal gas law.

After blowing up a balloon inside with relatively warm air, it is slowly shrinking while being kept inside a grill hood outside.

This experiment represents what can happen to tire pressure when temperatures plummet.

5:39 a.m. | To show the effects of the bitter cold, meteorologist Wes Peery is conducting weather experiments.

First, he is testing how long it will take to freeze a banana so it can be used to hammer a nail into a piece of wood.

He's nearly an hour into the experiment, and it is over halfway complete.

5:19 a.m. | KSHB 41 reporter Caroline Hogan is at the Kansas City International Airport.

Although some later flights have already been canceled, early flights had not been impacted by 5:30 am.

4:30 a.m.| Several power companies are reporting numerous outages this morning.

• Evergy reports 65 outages, affecting 6,397 customers.
• BPU reports two outages, affecting 69 customers.

3:30 a.m.| Emergency crews are already responding to multiple accidents at 3:30 a.m.

Police have shut down Interstate 435 eastbound at Homes as a delivery truck spun out and is facing the wrong direction on the highway. No serious injuries have been reported.

Officers are also working a rollover at I-435 and Cookingham near KCI, and at I-70 and Stadium, a vehicle towing a trailer slid off the highway — the trailer rolled over.

Motorists are encouraged to slow down and keep extra space between themselves and other vehicles.

We have crews across the metro and will update you live on KSHB41 with our morning newscast starting at 4 a.m.

2:49 a.m.| The Overland Park Police Department is requesting all drivers involved in non-injury accidents, where the vehicles are still drivable, to walk in their accident reports at a later date.

Overland Park police will continue to respond to injury accidents where the vehicles are not drivable or accidents where the driver is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

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