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Weather Blog: Possible Record Warm Christmas then a Storm

Posted at 7:36 AM, Dec 24, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-24 08:36:44-05

Merry Christmas bloggers,

Where has the year gone? It is 1 day until Christmas. This year it snowed on Halloween, so it wouldn't be KC if in the same year we made a run at 70° on Christmas. The record high for Christmas day is 67° set in 1922. We are going 66° which means we could easily tie or break the record. The record high for Christmas Eve is 66° set in 1955. We are going 62°, but we could easily be warmer if the high clouds overhead are very thin.

After this near record or record warm Christmas we will turn our attention to a storm for Friday-Sunday. Let's go through this day by day.

CHRISTMAS EVE: When Santa arrives into the USA tonight it will be snowing only in the southwest USA around the four corners. We will be in the low 50s with a 10-20 mph breeze from the south. If you have any last minute shopping to do, or you are traveling or you have family and friends headed to KC the weather will be pretty calm across the country, so there should not be any huge weather delays. The only system, is a small one in the southwest USA.

CHRISTMAS DAY: As Santa heads back to the North Pole, we will be coming close to, tying or breaking the record high of 67° set back in 1922. The weather across the USA will be rather calm.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Thursday will be a calm day as a weak cold front drifts through. Highs will be in the 40s and 50s. The storm we are tracking will be in southern California Thursday. Friday will see the storm enter the southern Rockies and areas of rain will begin to form in the Plains. We will see highs in the 40s.

SATURDAY: The storm will be out into the Plains and the potential is there for widespread rain, heavy at times. The data overnight has trended towards the heaviest rain along I-35. There is not much cold air in the storm at this point, so any snow will be confined to the far west sections of the storm.

SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY: The storm will take off to the northeast as cold air wraps in from the northwest. As is, we would be on the southern edge of the accumulating snow Saturday night. If the storm tracks farther south, then we could see some accumulation. This is still an evolving situation.

Chiefs Sunday looks windy and cold with any snow ending by afternoon. Temperatures will be in the 20s and 30s. The Chiefs have won in the wind, snow, cold and rain. So, the Chiefs can handle this. The LA Chargers....well, maybe not.

How much rain could we see with this storm? Before we show the latest data, let's take a look at where we stand for rainfall in 2019. We were 153% of average through October 5th as we were in one of the wettest patterns ever. Then, a new pattern has been taking shape and since October 5th, we have been at 30% of average. This still puts our 2019 total at 51.71" which is the 5th wettest ever recorded in KC. There are areas in KC that have seen more precipitation since October 5th. KCI is used as the official station.

The overnight data has come in with quite a bit of rain Friday-Saturday with 1"-2" totals. A few locations could see 2"-3"! Keep in mind that the entire month of December averages 1.53" of rain. This is not set yet. It is still 3 -4 days away and as we know things can change. The track and strength are still questions.

DRUNK DRIVING WARNING: Please do not drink/text and drive. This is in memory of all of those who have been injured or killed in drunk/text driving accidents. Nathan McDuffy was one of those that lost his life nearly 30 years ago.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas. And, for those who celebrate, Happy Hanukkah.