Snowmageddon Sunday: Brace for a Winter Wonderland!

• A Winter Storm Warning Is in Effect from 10PM Saturday until 6 AM Monday
• Heavy Mixture in Metro of Snow/Sleet, More Snow to the North, More Ice to the South
• Sunday Evening-Monday Morning: Shift to All Snow Before Storm Depart

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Saturday: While light precipitation in the form of sleet or snow is possible later this evening, the primary wave of wintry weather will arrive post 1 am tonight.

Winter Storm Intensifies Late Saturday Night, Concludes Monday Morning: A winter storm is set to commence late Saturday night into early Sunday. The anticipated start time in St. Louis is between 10 PM Saturday and 3 AM Sunday. At first, the snow and sleet will be light, therefore we do not foresee considerable travel disruptions late this evening. Nonetheless, exercise caution and drive slowly if you must be out late. The most intense wintry precipitation will develop later tonight, encompassing the region closer to 2 AM. This will result in rapidly worsening road conditions overnight and into Sunday. The storm will reach its peak Sunday morning and afternoon. A broad spectrum of precipitation will be observed from north to south on Sunday morning through afternoon. Regions north of I-70 will experience all snow. In the St. Louis metropolitan area, primarily sleet is expected initially, which could accumulate several inches. Indeed, the St. Louis area may not witness any snow until much later in the day. IF sleet is the dominant precipitation, this will decrease our snowfall totals. Sleet does not accumulate as much. In the forecast map above, if there is more sleet, we may trend towards lower totals.

Generally, areas that receive the most sleet will have decreased snow amounts, while regions with lower sleet accumulations will acquire more snow. That boundary of who gets more sleet versus less sleet may shift throughout the area. Typically, the further south from St. Louis you go, the lesser the snowfall amounts due to the heavier sleet. Furthermore, areas further south will experience freezing rain, with accumulations varying from 1/4″ to 3/4″. This level of ice is sufficient to cause damage to trees and power outages, particularly in Reynolds and Iron Counties, where the highest icing totals are projected. It’s challenging to determine where the various forms of precipitation will fall as it hinges on just a few degrees in temperatures at 5,000 feet above the surface.

Although this storm will depart Monday, temperatures will remain below freezing for nearly a full week. Therefore, any snow and/or ice will linger for several days. Travel impacts are anticipated on Sunday. If you can, avoid the roads. The Monday morning commute could still pose problems as snow exits the area, and untreated roads will likely remain slick.

A Winter Storm Warning Is in Effect from 10PM Saturday until 6 AM Monday. This encompasses the St. Louis Metro. Reynolds & Iron counties are under an Ice Storm Warning.

Some Quick Definitions…

Sleet: These are ice pellets (frozen raindrops) that bounce upon impact with the ground or your vehicle. While significant sleet can render roads slick, it does not pose a threat of power outages and does not coat all surfaces like freezing rain does.

Freezing rain: This occurs when raindrops freeze upon contact with the ground, generating extremely hazardous and slippery conditions for walking and driving. Ice resulting from freezing rain is a power outage hazard when accumulations exceed 0.25″, particularly near 0.5″.

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