Blizzard east - record warmth - and preparing for severe weather

All of the attention will be focused on the Northeast today where the big blizzard continues to keep people home and off the streets. I know major storms like that require some of us to work harder, but if someone mandated that you stay home for a day or two and miss work or school, some of us would be okay with that.

We are no strangers to blizzards around here, but we are about as far away from one as you can get with today's weather. More 70s coming up in the afternoon will mean more record breaking warmth across much of Kansas and the central Plains. I would expect close to a dozen record highs will be set in Kansas alone (we are 30 degrees above average)

These are the current record highs that will likely go down the next couple of days

A weekend storm is still expected to move toward Kansas by Friday. This doesn't look to be a major storm, but there is a good chance we will see both rain and snow in our state coming up Saturday and lingering into Sunday. Right now, it looks like the moisture could start as snow, then mix with some rain, and eventually, change back over to all snow Saturday evening. We are still too far out to say where exactly the rain/snow line will set up, but snow accumulation is very possible heading into Saturday night.

Arriving Saturday!!

While the weather is somewhat quiet for now and spring is still two months away, preparation is already underway for the upcoming storm season. Warning the public of threatening weather is definitely a team effort. From the meteorologists to the emergency managers, everyone has to be on the same page and working together in order to keep people safe during times of life threatening weather. On Monday, our group of National Weather Service meteorologists (from as far away as Hastings, NE), broadcasters, and emergency managers met in Lyons to discuss the warning process. We know the methods we use now are good, but how can we improve? As technology changes, how should we adapt to make our communication more effective with the people we serve? Being prepared is the key, and anybody living in Kansas should feel good knowing that all of us involved in warning the public of dangerous weather, continue to look for ways to improve. It's a very fascinating process.

Integrated Warning Team meeting in Lyons on Monday