Dangerously cold temps heads to Missouri this weekend

(Missourinet) — The coldest air of the season so far is on its way to Missouri.

A cold front is expected to arrive Saturday and move southward across the state. Alex Elmore, Senior Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in St. Louis, said how cold it gets will depend on which side of I-70 you live on.

“Generally, for northern portions of Missouri, (we’re expecting) low single digits with some locations, particularly across northeastern Missouri, seeing values around zero or even a little bit below zero for overnight lows there late Saturday night, early Sunday morning,” he told Missourinet.

Missouri south of Interstate 70 will be slightly warmer

South of I-70, lows will dip into the upper single digits and around 10 degrees by Sunday morning.

The wind chills will make it even more dangerous, starting Saturday night.

“They’re going to be fairly strong, generally about 10 miles an hour,” Elmore said. “Factoring those in, that’s going to drive wind chills down to around -20 for portions of northeastern Missouri and generally around -10 for other areas of northern Missouri, generally north of Interstate 70. South of I-70, generally, we’re expecting wind chills around zero.”

Elmore also said there won’t be a lot snow with this system, but what snow there is will start falling on Saturday.

“Portions of northeastern Missouri are expected to see the greatest amounts, one to two inches, with maybe some pockets of of three to four inches across far, far northeastern Missouri,” he said. “But most of the state won’t see much in the way of snowfall — could see some flurries as far south as the I-70 corridor.”

Missourians are advised to stay indoors (when possible)

Elmore advises people to stay indoors this weekend as much as possible.

“Regardless of whether you’re in (the) southern portion of the state where the wind chills and the temperatures are going to be, relatively speaking, a little bit warmer than northern portion of the state, it’s best to limit your outdoor exposure,” he said. “Any exposed skin will just increase the odds of experiencing hypothermia or frostbite.”

Elmore also advised homeowners to leave one or more faucets dripping to help prevent pipes from freezing and bursting.

Marshall Griffin, Missourinet

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Marshall Griffin is an anchor and reporter for the Missouri Radio Network, also known as Missourinet.

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