Winter Storm: Jan. 28-30 Update #4

As posted in a quick twitter update last night, this system had some problems with dry air, which was expected if you read back to previous posts or read any NWS discussion.  A band of snowfall did setup along central Kansas, allowing for 2-4" across an area roughly along Highway 54 in Kansas.  It took several hours for this band of snowfall to saturate the dry levels just above the surface yesterday afternoon, and as it continued to push northeastward early last night it continued to struggle with even drier air over northeast Kansas and Missouri.  While this was able to finally saturate, only very light snow was reported with this, and thus little accumulations actually occurred. 

This morning snowfall continues to be reported over southwest Missouri and southern Kansas, and this snow should continue through the morning hours in Kansas and over southern Missouri through this evening.  Accumulations have been hampered by the dry air, and the heaviest band of snow over southern Missouri should range from 3-6".  The two large metro areas of Missouri (Kansas City & St. Louis) should only see occasional light snow through the evening hours, leading to anywhere from a dusting to perhaps just over an inch of snow. 

As expected, the hardest hit areas with this system was over Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas where the dry air was not present at 850hPa and the precipitation was easily able to saturate and reach the ground in very little time.  Large amounts of snow, ice, and sleet were reported over these areas and please refer to their NWS webpage for the latest summaries on conditions there.  A full recap of snowfall reports will be posted later this evening/tonight to recap the winter storm.