Slippery Roads on Monday?

Dangerously cold temperatures have arrived back in the Fordland area after a couple of days of milder temperatures. Wind chills have fallen well into the below zero range and the area is under a Wind Chill Advisory through mid day on Saturday. The next round of weather appears to make its way into the Fordland area on Sunday night into Monday morning.

The National Weather Service in Springfield states that another round of wintry precipitation could arrive early Monday morning which could cause hazardous road conditions. They state that temperatures will warm up above the freezing mark on Sunday, as they have predicted into the mid to upper 30’s. This warmer air will bring in some moisture in the form of rain. As temperatures begin to fall into the night, that rain will begin to freeze making it freezing rain. The NWS states that the transition can be expected to begin after midnight in the Fordland area. This will continue throughout the night and into the Monday morning commute.

Charts are showing that there is a 30-50% chance of freezing rain to fall beginning after midnight while those chances increase to 80-100% chance of that rain to be freezing by 6 am Monday morning. Those chances remain high until around the noon hour where temperatures reach the near freezing mark. Forecast charts from the NWS show that Fordland could receive upwards of .25″ of freezing rain which could impact untreated road services.

Ice can form on roads when rain is falling and temperatures are near and remain near the freezing mark. This can lead to hazardous travel when either the air temperature or road temperature fall below 32 degrees. Monday morning if you must travel, make sure you slow down, do not use your cruise control, leave plenty of distance between you and the car in front of you, and if you don’t have to travel on icy roads, it is recommended that you stay home. If we can hold on through the weekend, warmer temperatures are forecasted to find their way to Fordland.