Freezing drizzle caused major travel impacts and numerous accidents across southeast Kansas.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS SGF wrote it up.
Freezing drizzle caused major travel impacts and numerous accidents across southeast Kansas.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 16, 3:14 AM CST, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Springfield MO 314 AM CST Fri Dec 16 2016 ...A Blast of Light Wintry Weather and Arctic Air This Weekend... .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 245 AM CST Fri Dec 16 2016 Local and regional radar showing mid level moisture increasing overnight. Very light radar echoes have been seen but very dry air at the surface hasn't allowed much in the way of moisture to reach the ground yet. Most of the very light precip is not making it to the lower 1k to 2k feet above the ground level. The dewpoint depressions have been slowly decreasing. There will be the potential for some very light drizzle or freezing drizzle this morning over the western half of the area into central Missouri as the lower atmosphere tries to saturate. At this time, we are not expecting much at all if this occurs but something to keep an eye on this morning and watch for trends. A low pressure area will develop this morning across Kansas and move eastward today. Southerly winds will bring in milder temperatures later today and tonight. There will be a chance of drizzle or very light showers possible today and tonight but not much in the way of actually rainfall expected. Temperatures will be mildest over western areas in the middle to upper 40s and coolest out east where some areas may only stay in the 30s. Temperatures will continue to slowly climb overnight with some areas seeing their high temperatures for tomorrow very early in the morning. .LONG TERM...(Saturday through Thursday) Issued at 245 AM CST Fri Dec 16 2016 A strong sharp Arctic front will begin to move into the area Saturday morning from northwest to southeast. Temperatures may be in the 50s across south central Missouri around daybreak while it may be in the low 30s across west central Missouri into southeast Kansas. As the front slowly moves through the area, there will be a big temperature difference and temperatures will crash during the midday into the evening. Mid level energy will move out across the Central Plains region during the day on Saturday and a band of wintry weather will develop behind the front. This band of precip will develop to move into southeast Kansas and west central Missouri by midday and slowly move southeastward during the afternoon and evening. There may be a brief window of a light wintry mix before the precip changes to all snow. The band of precip will weaken as it moves into far southern Missouri by Saturday evening. There will be the potential for 1 to 2 inches of snow possible from a line near Pittsburg, Kansas to the Lake of the Ozarks region and northwestward. About a half inch to 1 inch may be possible along the I-44 corridor and northwest...and just a dusting expected south of I-44. There may be some travel impacts with the wintry weather north and west of the I-44 corridor Saturday afternoon and evening. The system will move out Saturday night with clearing skies. Temperatures by Sunday morning will be in the single digits and where there is fresh snow on the ground...could be closer to zero. Wind chills will be near minus 10 degrees below zero. A wind chill advisory may be needed for areas along and north of I-44 Sunday morning. Highs Sunday will only be in the teens and then back down into the single digits Sunday night into Monday morning. The Arctic airmass will slowly moderate through early next week with a gradual warming trend to near seasonable temperatures. Another weak front and weather system may move through the area by the middle of next week with some light precip. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Friday night) Issued at 1135 PM CST Thu Dec 15 2016 For the KSGF/KJLN/KBBG tafs: Pressure gradient has tightened between the departing high in the Ohio Valley and an area of low pressure over Colorado. Southeast winds have been gusting to 25 knots thus far as KSGF and expect this to continue through much of the period. Low level moisture was being pulled northward through the Plains, with IFR conditions along with some Drizzle and freezing drizzle being reported from central Oklahoma into south central Kansas. However, short term models keep these lower ceilings and preciptiation to the west of the TAF sites overnight However, will still see lowering ceilings into the MVFR category overnight and remaining there most of the day Friday, although some VFR conditions will be possible during the afternoon. Surface low and cold front approach the aerodromes Friday evening, with continued gusty southeast winds along with lower ceilings back into the lower MVFR and possibly IFR categories. Very strong 60+ knot low level jet will result in low level wind shear through the evening hours. && .SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...NONE. KS...NONE. && SHORT TERM...Griffin LONG TERM...Griffin AVIATION...Raberding
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 354 AM CST FRI DEC 16 2016 KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-171000- BOURBON-CRAWFORD-CHEROKEE-BENTON-MORGAN-MILLER-MARIES-VERNON- ST. CLAIR-HICKORY-CAMDEN-PULASKI-PHELPS-BARTON-CEDAR-POLK-DALLAS- LACLEDE-TEXAS-DENT-JASPER-DADE-GREENE-WEBSTER-WRIGHT-NEWTON- LAWRENCE-CHRISTIAN-DOUGLAS-HOWELL-SHANNON-MCDONALD-BARRY-STONE- TANEY-OZARK-OREGON- 354 AM CST FRI DEC 16 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED... LIMITED EXCESSIVE COLD RISK. LIMITED NON THUNDERSTORM WIND RISK. LIMITED ICE ACCUMULATION RISK. DISCUSSION... VERY LIGHT PATCHY FREEZING DRIZZLE MAY BE POSSIBLE EARLY THIS MORNING ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS BEFORE TEMPERATURES WARM UP ABOVE FREEZING. WIDESPREAD IMPACTS ARE NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME BUT EXERCISE CAUTION IF YOU DO SEE FREEZING DRIZZLE THIS MORNING. WIND CHILLS WILL FALL INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS EARLY THIS MORNING ACROSS THE FAR EASTERN OZARKS. SOUTHERLY WINDS GUSTS WILL APPROACH 30 MPH TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. A VERY STRONG COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE AREA SATURDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES WILL RAPIDLY FALL BEHIND THE FRONT. THIS WILL CAUSE PRECIPITATION TO CHANGE BRIEFLY TO FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET...FOLLOWED BY A BAND OF SNOW. NO SIGNIFICANT ICE OR SLEET ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. SNOW TOTALS ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM ONE TO TWO INCHES POSSIBLE NORTHWEST OF A LINE NEAR PITTSBURG KANSAS TO THE LAKE OF THE OZARKS REGION. HALF AN INCH TO UP TO AN INCH POSSIBLE ALONG AND NORTH OF I-44 AND GENERALLY A DUSTING SOUTH OF I-44. SOME TRAVEL IMPACTS WILL BE POSSIBLE NORTH AND WEST OF I-44 SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WIND CHILLS FROM ZERO TO MINUS 15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO WILL BE POSSIBLE SUNDAY MORNING AND MONDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && MORE DETAILED INFORMATION CAN BE ACCESSED AT: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SGF/SITREP(ALL LOWERCASE) THIS PRODUCT IN GRAPHICAL FORMAT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER... HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SGF(ALL LOWERCASE) GRIFFIN
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT National Weather Service SPRINGFIELD MO 421 AM CST Fri Dec 16 2016 KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-162230- Bourbon-Crawford-Cherokee-Benton-Morgan-Miller-Maries-Vernon- St. Clair-Hickory-Camden-Pulaski-Phelps-Barton-Cedar-Polk-Dallas- Laclede-Texas-Dent-Jasper-Dade-Greene-Webster-Wright-Newton- Lawrence-Christian-Douglas-Howell-Shannon-McDonald-Barry-Stone- Taney-Ozark-Oregon- Including the cities of...Fort Scott...Pawnee Station... Chicopee...Lone Oak...Pittsburg...Baxter Springs...Lowell... Riverton...Columbus...Neutral...Sherwin...Stippville...Warsaw... Whitakerville...Cole Camp...Crockerville...Mora...Edmonson... Lincoln...Versailles...Rocky Mount...Stover...Laurie... Aurora Springs...Eldon...Lake Ozark...Vichy...NEVADA...Tiffin... Appleton City...Johnson City...Weaubleau...Hermitage...Quincy... Wheatland...Cross Timbers...Osage Beach...Camdenton... Decaturville...Roach...Village of Four Seasons... Fort Leonard Wood...Laquey...Waynesville...Northwye...Rolla... Kenoma...Lamar...Cedar Springs...El Dorado Springs...Filley... Arnica...Caplinger Mills...Stockton...Bolivar...Buffalo... Charity...Foose...March...Plad...Windyville...Olive...Lynchburg... Lebanon...Plato...Roby...Bendavis...Huggins...Lake Spring... Bangert...Darien...Gladden...Howes...Jadwin...Salem...Joplin... Carthage...Greenfield...Lockwood...Meinert...Springfield... Marshfield...Northview...Seymour...Rogersville...Dawson...Graff... Mountain Grove...Duncan...Mansfield...Neosho...Aurora... Mount Vernon...Marionville...Nixa...Christian Center...Ozark... Selmore...Vanzant...Ava...Goodhope...Rome...Squires...Dogwood... Pomona...Pottersville...Siloam Springs...South Fork... West Plains...White Church...Teresita...Winona...Birch Tree... Montier...Anderson...Noel...Goodman...South West City... Pineville...Rocky Comfort...Monett...Madry...Cassville... Kimberling City...Crane...Elsey...Indian Point... Silver Dollar City...Branson...Hollister...Kirbyville... Edgewater Beach...Forsyth...Ozark Beach...Powersite...Wasola... Thayer...Alton...Couch...Greer...Thomasville...Wilderness 421 AM CST Fri Dec 16 2016 ...LIGHT WINTRY WEATHER AND AN ARCTIC BLAST THIS WEEKEND... VERY LIGHT PATCHY FREEZING DRIZZLE MAY DEVELOP THIS MORNING ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS BEFORE TEMPERATURES WARM UP ABOVE FREEZING. WHILE WIDESPREAD IMPACTS AND OCCURRENCE OF FREEZING DRIZZLE IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME...ANY PATCHY FREEZING DRIZZLE MAY CAUSE ISOLATED SLICK SPOTS ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES EARLY THIS MORNING. A STRONG ARCTIC FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA SATURDAY MORNING WITH THE COLDEST WEATHER SO FAR THIS WINTER SEASON MOVING IN THIS WEEKEND. A BAND OF LIGHT SNOW WILL DEVELOP BEHIND THE FRONT SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. A BRIEF LIGHT WINTRY MIX MAY ALSO DEVELOP BEFORE THE LIGHT SNOW ARRIVES SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT BUT MAY BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE SOME TRAVEL IMPACTS ESPECIALLY FOR AREAS NORTH AND WEST OF I-44 SATURDAY EVENING. AIR TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO NEAR ZERO SUNDAY MORNING AND MONDAY MORNING. HIGHS WILL ONLY BE IN THE TEENS ON SUNDAY. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL NEAR ZERO TO POSSIBLY AS LOW AS 15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO BOTH SUNDAY MORNING AND MONDAY MORNING. MAKE SURE YOU ARE WINTER READY FOR THIS EXTREMELY COLD WEATHER THIS WEEKEND AS WELL AS CHECK ON PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR PETS. Griffin/Foster
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Several car accidents were reported across Crawford County due to slick road conditions from light freezing drizzle. There was one indirect injury reported. There were several semi trucks and cars that slid off Highway 69.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, December 2016
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 664503.