Car wash forecast – February 22nd-24th

To keep the updated Car Wash Forecast simple, we look great for Monday and Tuesday before some rain chances try to sneak back in for some by Wednesday. With mostly sunny skies and unseasonably mild temperatures for Monday and Tuesday, both days look great for getting your car cleaned up with a fresh coat of wax. If you haven’t had the chance to get your car properly cleaned up after the last 2 weeks of wintry weather, these two days look perfect to get it done. We’ll watch for an upper-level low to try and send some energy our way on Wednesday. While that could bring a few showers for some, most areas should stay dry on Wednesday. For that, we’ll give Wednesday a fair rating.

Better week ahead of us

After Arctic air with 2 storm systems bringing accumulating snow last week, this week is looking much better. We do have to wrap up the weekend with scattered showers as a cold front works in. After a quiet Monday and Tuesday, we’ll watch for a few quick waves during the middle of the week. This could bring some scattered showers our way for Wednesday and a few rain/snow showers late on Thursday. Next weekend will start dry before we see rain chances move in late on Saturday and wintry weather possibilities by that following Sunday. We’ll see highs in the lower 40s on Sunday before we see temperatures push near 50 on Monday and near 60 on Tuesday. After highs drop back near 50 on Wednesday, we’ll have another cool snap with highs in the middle to upper 40s for Thursday and Friday. We should be back near 54 by Saturday afternoon.

Car wash forecast – February 21st-23rd

The car wash forecast has never looked better after the past few weeks of freezing drizzle, freezing rain and snow. Now that temperatures are back above freezing, you might think Sunday will be another perfect day to get your car clean of all the snow as the snowpack continues to melt and roads continue to look much better. However, a front for Sunday wants to bring in some scattered showers for our day. That’s why we gave it a fair. You might be able to dodge some of the showers through the day, but your best shot will be in the evening as our rain chances wind on down. However, Monday and Tuesday look good as we’ll have partly to mostly sunny skies with highs near 50 on Monday and highs near 60 on Tuesday.

Emergency curtailment ends for Southwest Missouri business customers

ST. LOUIS — With natural gas systems improving across the region, Spire is lifting its emergency curtailment plan for all business customers in Southwest Missouri.

“We want to thank everyone in the community for their help this week,” said Scott Carter, Spire Missouri president. “Every customer who helped conserve energy made a difference and helped to keep natural gas flowing across the region. Together, we kept families safe and warm when the reliability of natural gas was needed most.”

On Monday evening – when energy systems in the Midwest began to stress – Spire advised business customers to reduce usage and asked residents to turn down thermostats and minimize usage of natural gas appliances. While the curtailment plan is over, Spire continues to suggest all homes and businesses conserve energy to keep bills low during these frigid weather conditions.

“This is a time of year when energy usage increases naturally,” said Carter. “By taking a few simple steps, customers can lower energy consumption – which will reduce the impact on their bills.”

For residential customers, tips to conserve energy include:

  • Turn thermostats down a few degrees
  • Limit use of natural gas fireplaces
  • During the day, open curtains on south-facing windows to let sunlight heat the home. Close curtains at night to reduce potential incoming cold from any drafty windows
  • If windows feel drafty, install insulating drapes, shades or weather sealing tape to prevent cold air from seeping in
  • Seal areas around the home where air could come in. These leaky areas often can be found around pipes that connect to the outside, unfinished spaces behind cupboards, recessed lights in insulated ceilings, and closets.

For more information on ways you can do your part and help conserve energy during these extreme conditions, go to SpireEnergy.com/ColdWeather.

MoDOT engineer shares what the recent snowstorm has been like for his crew

As the District Engineer for MoDOT’s Southwestern corner of the Show Me State, James Hamelink appeared on the KOAM Morning News to explain how he and his team have approached snow removal and keeping road conditions clear over the past few days.

Hamelink tells us that his crew of 260+ snow removal trucks cover 14,000 lane miles of road across 21 counties in Southwestern Missouri, and that the recent storm has provided unprecedented obstacles.

Road Conditions | Closings | Weather Forecast 

He also says that while they were able to cover the main roads on Wednesday, their gameplan for Thursday will be to do more loops on those primary arteries in the morning and then hopefully proceed to the “letter routes” before nightfall.

Each truck travels at speeds of 35-45mph while plowing the roads. Heading into his 4th year with MoDOT, Hamelink tells us that the department has a lot of new drivers this year. He also said that while they’re more experienced in salting the roads than removing snow, this recent storm has been easier for his crew than an ice storm would be.

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Snow totals for this week

When you combine the snow we saw from our Sunday/Monday storm system and the storm system that snuck in late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, the numbers are fairly remarkable. Most areas across southeast Kansas picked up between 6 and 9 inches this week alone. When you start working into extreme southeast Kansas, northeast Oklahoma and along much of the I-44 & I-49 corridors in southwest Missouri, these areas picked up between 9 inches and a foot of snow. Once you work east of I-49 toward US 65 and Table Rock Lake, the numbers across that part of southwest Missouri dropped back to the 6 to 9 inch range.

Better days on our weekly planner lining up

The updated weekly planner has us dry for Thursday through Saturday. Our next wave on the way for Sunday looks to bring scattered rain chances our way to wrap up the weekend. After a dry start early next week for Monday and Tuesday, we’ll watch for another to bring rain chances back in by next Wednesday. As for temperatures, it won’t be too long before the Arctic air gets out of here. After we see highs in the middle 20s for Thursday, we’ll head back to the lower 30s on Friday and push near 40 on Saturday. We’ll hold on to highs in the lower 40s for Sunday and head into the middle 40s for Monday. Next Tuesday and Wednesday will feel like a heat wave around here with highs eager to push into the upper 50s.

Car wash forecast – February 18th-20th

Given the state that the roads are in and considering there will still be quite a bit of snow on the ground and on numerous side streets, we recommend holding off on any car washing for your Thursday. If the electricity situation improves by this weekend, that will work well partly sunny skies for Friday and Saturday as it will send us back into the lower 30s on Friday and upper 30s to near 40 on Saturday. With that continuing to eat away at the snow, improving roads could allow you to get your car cleaned up as we head deeper into the weekend.