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Kansas City welcomes 2021 with winter storm

Monitoring road conditions across the Kansas City Metro
new year's day snow storm
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Posted at 4:02 AM, Jan 01, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-01 23:19:26-05

9:14 p.m. | Johnson County, Kansas, road crews continued to plow roads as needed Friday night. A tweet from the county stated mainline roads are
90% clear from edge to edge. Subdivision roads are 50 to 75% clear. Gravel roads are next on the list. Watch for slick spots.

9:00 p.m. | The City of Independence reported crews completed work on priority streets and are working secondary streets.
Crews will work late plowing residential streets. The streets will not be cleared from curb to curb. Officials remind drivers to allow
extra time to travel and drive with caution.

8:05 p.m. | Power crews in Independence hope to have a majority of customers power back on in the next 2-3 hours.
Power will be out until early Sunday at the earliest for customers along Eureka. A slick road caused a vehicle to crash into a power pole
and power was knocked out.

8 p.m. | Troop A of the Missouri Highway Patrol reported troopers responded to 217 calls for service and investigated 59 crashes.
7 people were hurt in crashes, but no deadly crashes have been reported. Troopers also checked on 82 stranded motorists.

5:39 p.m. | As of 5:39 p.m. the City of Independence reported 780 customers with power outages in the east part of the city.

According to the city, crews are en route to restore power.

5:08 p.m. | RideKC and RideKC Freedom services will be suspended at 8 p.m. on Friday due to road conditions.

RideKC says it made the decision to keep riders and bus operators safe.

4:20 p.m. | Evergy reported 215 active outages affecting 4,294 customers as of 4:20 p.m.

3:45 p.m. | Area snow removal crews are still treating priority roads.

The City of Independence tweeted that since snow has fallen throughout the day, plows remain on priority streets.

As the snow tapers off, crews will go to secondary routes.

2:30 p.m. | The Missouri State Highway Patrol said as of 2 p.m. troopers had responded to 127 calls for service.

Of those, 35 were crash investigations in which three people were injured.

Troopers also checked on 42 stranded drivers.

Thankfully, MSHP reported no fatalities.

2:22 p.m. | Evergy reported 305 outages affecting 5,160 customers as of 2:22 p.m.

2:15 p.m. | Roads in northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri remained covered with snow as the storm system continued its course through the metro.

1:12 p.m. | RideKC customers are encouraged to plan ahead by checking the app or visiting RideKC online as the winter storm has delayed many routes. Three routes have been shortened for the remainder of Friday due to the weather.

RideKC customers should expect weather-related delays

Delays of an hour or more are likely with longer delays possible, according to RideKC's update shortly after 1 p.m. on Friday.

RideKC announced that Routes 27 27th Street, 31 31st Street and 39 39th Street will not run east of Prospect Avenue for the remainder of the day.

The regional can center will remain open until 4 p.m. and can be reached at 816-221-0660.

All buses running on Snow Reroutes with additional reroutes possible.

12:51 p.m. | Another hour, another inch of snow. Stay tuned to 41 Action News and follow along with our blog as well on Twitter and Facebook.

12:44 p.m. | Snow Creek, a ski resort north of Kansas City in Platte County, is closed due to a "weather induced power outage," according to the company's website.

Phone lines and email also are down, according to a post on social media shortly before noon.

According to an update posted as a comment by Snow Creek, there is no timetable for when power will be restored.

"If you have an activity that was cancelled for today (such as a lesson or tubing), please reach out to our sales team snowcreekinfo@vailresorts.com with your product information," Snow Creek said in a comment.

Due to the email outage, there may be delays in processing cancellations.

12:20 p.m. | Snow continues to fall at a rapid pace, particularly along the Interstate 35 corridor. Three inches have fallen already in parts of Overland Park.

The snow continues to fall at a rate of roughly an inch every hour.

11:25 a.m. | Motorists in Olathe help a stranded driver, while a Northland interstate grinds to a halt because of the New Year's Day storm.

New Year's Day winter storm snarls traffic in Kansas City

11:18 a.m. | Heavy snow has left behind slick, snow-packed roads. Motorists at the intersection of 119th Street and Black Bob Road in Olathe have become stuck and nearly run over signs.

Heavy snow has created hazardous conditions in Olathe

11:10 a.m. | As snow accumulates across most of the Kansas City area, the southeast part of the region — a line extending roughly from Paola to Belton, Lee’s Summit to Blue Springs, and Buckner to Orrick — is seeing less snowfall.

10:25 a.m. | Ride KC says it will attempt to resume bus and paratransit service at 11 a.m., though conditions may warrant suspension of service later. Check Ridekc.org for the latest updates.

9:52 a.m. | As the different types snow fall around Kansas City, 41 Action News' Rae Daniel has been keeping track.

9:30 a.m. | Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas, speaking on 41 Action News, asked Kansas Citians to stay off the roads to allow public works crews a chance to clear accumulating snow.

8:36 a.m. | MSHP responded to eight crashes and 16 stranded motorists in just one hour this morning.

8:30 a.m. | Due to hazardous conditions, Overland Park police are directing anyone involved in a car crash in their area that does not involve an injury to collect information and walk in the report to the police station. The change allows officers to focus on injury crashes.

8:28 a.m. | Evergy reported an increase to 202 power outages, but those affect fewer customers. Now, around 6,500 customers are without power.

8:12 a.m. | Meteorologist Lindsey Anderson said some parts of the Kansas City area could now see up to 8 inches of snow.

8 a.m. | Evergy is reporting 172 power outages affecting more than 11,000 customers.

7:50 a.m. | Sgt. Andy Bell with the Missouri State Highway Patrol gave an update on road operations and conditions.

MSHP snow operations update

7:38 a.m. | Traffic Anchor Daisha Jones reports a semi off the road on Interstate 49 northbound past Highway 291.

7:30 a.m. | RideKC has now suspended service through at least 11 a.m. due to continued hazardous road conditions.

7:15 a.m. | Meteorologist Wes Peery has already measured an inch of snow in Olathe.

Olathe 7:15 a.m. weather update

7:14 a.m. | While not many cars are on the road due to the holiday, some who ventured out are already encountering problems. Traffic anchor Daisha Jones reported a slide into a barrier on Interstate 635 northbound past K-5.

7 a.m. | Evergy now reports 159 power outages with over 5,500 customers affected.

6:50 a.m. | Reporter Rae Daniel shared an update on Lee's Summit snow operations from the city's facility.

6:49 a.m. | Meteorologist Wes Peery reports sleet has changed over to snow in the Olathe area. It is heavy, wet snow, and several inches should accumulate.

6:47 a.m. | Markl Johnson with MoDOT gave an update on snow operations and road conditions on the Missouri side of the state line.

MoDOT road update

6:42 a.m. | Meteorologist Wes Peery saw Olathe snow plows in action as sleet piles up on the roads.

6:33 a.m. | Reporter Rae Daniel reports large snowflakes mixing in with the sleet in Lee's Summit. The freezing rain and sleet around the area will eventually transition completely to snow.

6:30 a.m. | All RideKC services were suspended until at least 8 a.m. due to icy and treacherous road conditions.

6:12 a.m. | Evergy reported 186 power outages affecting over 4,900 customers. No other utility companies reported major outages at this time.

6:04 a.m. | Meteorologist Wes Peery shared an update on road conditions in Olathe. Constant sleet is causing a glaze on roadways.

6 a.m. road conditions in Olathe

5:45 a.m. | Reporter Rae Daniel shared an update on road conditions in Lee's Summit.

5 a.m. | Ride KC Bus and RideKC Freedom paratransit are suspended until at least 8 a.m. Service may be delayed later if road conditions remain treacherous. RideKC will provide an update by 8 a.m.

ORIGINAL STORY | Kansas Citians are ringing in the new year with a winter storm.

The area is under a Winter Storm Warning through 8 p.m. on New Year's Day with the possibility of several inches of snow falling atop a layer of ice by the time the storm moves out later Friday night.

For the latest on the winter's first major storm, watch a live stream our network of tower cameras, including the latest radar images, or check the latest forecast update from the 41 Action News weather team.

Check back throughout the day for the latest updates on the storm and its impact on the Kansas City region.

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