Since at least Monday the extended weather forecast has been filled with icy rain/wintry mix possibilities coming up this weekend. When that was all to hit moved back and forth. Sometimes it was Friday, other times everything was clear until Sunday. But today, it looks like it might have actually settled down.
The story I heard this morning had the ice storm of the decade coming into the south of the metro area Friday afternoon around 2 p.m., and hitting downtown between 3-4 p.m. (right before rush hour). There was a winter storm watch effective noon Friday to 2 p.m. Sunday (50 hours long). But this afternoon they issued the below Ice Storm Warning that is 63 hours long:
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Issuing Office: Kansas City/Pleasant Hill
Source: National.Weather.Service
… ICE STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM FRIDAY TO MIDNIGHT CST SUNDAY NIGHT… THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL HAS ISSUED AN ICE STORM WARNING, WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM FRIDAY TO MIDNIGHT CST SUNDAY NIGHT. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * TIMING… LIGHT PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN LATE FRIDAY MORNING… WITH PERIODS OF FREEZING RAIN THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON OR EVENING. * ICE ACCUMULATIONS… TOTAL ICE ACCUMULATIONS DURING THE MULTI-DAY PERIOD OF ONE-QUARTER TO THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH. * MAIN IMPACT… MAJOR IMPACTS TO TRAVEL ARE LIKELY AS ICE ACCUMULATES ON AREA ROADWAYS. BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES WILL BE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO ICE ACCRETION. ICE ACCUMULATION ON TREES AND POWERLINES MAY RESULT IN SCATTERED POWER OUTAGES. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… AN ICE STORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. TRAVEL IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED. COMMERCE WILL LIKELY BE SEVERELY IMPACTED. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL, KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT, FOOD, AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. ICE ACCUMULATIONS AND WINDS WILL LIKELY LEAD TO SNAPPED POWER LINES AND FALLING TREE BRANCHES THAT ADD TO THE DANGER. &&
… ICE STORM EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND… .PERIODS OF SIGNIFICANT ICING IS LIKELY ACROSS THE AREA THIS WEEKEND… STARTING FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ICING IS EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. PRECIPITATION WILL GRADUALLY CHANGE OVER TO RAIN FROM SOUTH TO NORTH SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
So we are in the peace before the storm — if we actually get a storm. The next few days could get interesting. We will be huddled waiting to see what hits; prepared to read and huddle together.
Some people are doubtless raiding for supplies to be prepared for power outages and staying shut it.
If this does what they are suggesting, it will be the ice storm of the decade.
At The Rainbow 
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