Winter weather in KCMO (Kansas City, St. Louis: 2014, maintenance, live in)

[xz2y]

I haven't lived in KCMO in a long time, like 30 years ago. I'm wondering if the winters have changed. I don't recall them being particularly harsh or long, but my recollection that far back might not be accurate.

In the last 5 years, what have winters been like?

[TabulaRasa]

I've been here 12 years.

I moved from the upper Midwest, so the winters are far milder than those I've spent most of my life experiencing, even at their most annoying. They have been predominantly mild, in my opinion. There have been outlier years. The winter of, I think, 2010-2011, I was teaching, and I know we had something like 14 snow days between January and February. This past winter was somewhat annoying because of cancellations for weather that stretched out intermittently throughout the winter. But mostly, it's still pretty mild by my standards.

[VietInKC]

It's sporadic. Some years barely any snow at all and others the opposite with snowstorms even appearing in March. However, I think as the years roll by, the winters here will get gradually more severe with the storms. Not claiming to be a meteorologist or fortune teller but that's just the trend I feel is going to happen.

[luzianne]

Some years the weather is pretty mild all winter with little snowfall; other years cold and snowy. There have been years that I have worn a T-shirt outside on Christmas Day (many years I have done that on Thanksgiving Day) and other years that we couldn't get out the front door because of snow drifts.


In 2010-2011 I remember having a lot of snow. Then one day in mid February the sun came out, everything melted, and winter was over just like that.

[GraniteStater]

Mild, not very northern feeling, and a general lack of any consistent cold or snow cover. However, they are horribly aggravating with sizable temperature swings and wind. Summer weather in KC is generally brutal compared to winter.

[RadioSilence]

I believe the 30-year average for snowfall is 18". This winter we had around 28" of snow. But the previous three or four winters I don't think we had more than five inches of snow.

The lowest temperature this past winter was -7 (F), which is dangerous, but nothing like what you would see farther north.

The wind is what gets you.

I have my own thoughts on where the plains climate is going, but not based on any scientific study.

[Weaubleau]

Anything from a moderately severe winter by temperature or snowfall, see 2011, 2013, 2019 to a mild, almost southern winter, see 2000, 2007, 2012. I think in the winter of 1999-2000, the lowest temperature all winter was 14 above, and that was only one night. I know I saw some annual flowers that never died on the plaza in late Feb of 2000. In 2013-2014, we had the polar vortex and seemingly had single digit morning lows almost every morning from the week after Thanksgiving to Valentines day, so it is kind of a crapshoot. Basically it's not Canada, or the deep south, but it can kind of resemble any state in between depending on the year.

[Sassybluesy]

I live in the St. Louis area, and it always seems like KC gets the worst of whatever winter weather there is, and then it kind of fizzles out (mostly) by the time it gets to the St. Louis area.

[xz2y]

Originally Posted by RadioSilence

I believe the 30-year average for snowfall is 18". This winter we had around 28" of snow. But the previous three or four winters I don't think we had more than five inches of snow.

The lowest temperature this past winter was -7 (F), which is dangerous, but nothing like what you would see farther north.

The wind is what gets you.

I have my own thoughts on where the plains climate is going, but not based on any scientific study.

Minus 7?? During the polar vortex this past January, here in SE Michigan, the wind chill reached minus 38! That was cold, Minnesota cold. Broke all kinds of records around here.

Maybe minus 7 was KCMO's end of January polar vortex. I think the vortex impacted states as far south as Texas.

Yes, it's the wind that's the killer, and also how bad the roads are. If roads are cleared fairly promptly and reasonably well, it's a much "better" winter, even with some snow and ice.

How does KCMO do in terms of road maintenance in the winter? Do they have lots of salt trucks, or do things kind of close down?

[RadioSilence]

Originally Posted by xz2y

Minus 7?? During the polar vortex this past January, here in SE Michigan, the wind chill reached minus 38! That was cold, Minnesota cold. Broke all kinds of records around here.

Maybe minus 7 was KCMO's end of January polar vortex. I think the vortex impacted states as far south as Texas.

Yes, it's the wind that's the killer, and also how bad the roads are. If roads are cleared fairly promptly and reasonably well, it's a much "better" winter, even with some snow and ice.

How does KCMO do in terms of road maintenance in the winter? Do they have lots of salt trucks, or do things kind of close down?

We were fortunate only to receive a glancing blow from the broken polar vortex this year. -7 was bad (wind chill I think was -12 to -18), but in no way compared to what happened in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Illinois this past winter.

Road maintenance depends on your jurisdiction. Kansas City, MO takes a long time, and publicly complains about the number of miles needed to be cleared. Each city in Johnson County, Kansas has its own street clearance, no matter how small, so they typically clear roads quickly. Again, I think we were fortunate that most of our snow seemed to fall at night this winter... and the biggest snow event occurred on a Saturday morning.