Storm will affect holiday travel conditions

COLUMBIA — A large storm system expected to cross Mid-Missouri in the coming days will have a significant impact on holiday travelers.

The system might produce rain on Tuesday night into Wednesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Jon Carney said, but the most severe weather will be on Thursday.

Heavy thunderstorms are expected during the day Thursday and into the night, but Carney said he doesn't expect freezing rain. Small amounts of snow could fall on Christmas, he said.

Travel conditions will be the worst on Thursday in Missouri.

“If people are planning to travel, they need to plan for a pretty wet Thursday,” says Carney.

Wintry weather is expected north and west of Missouri starting late Wednesday and into Thursday, which could make traveling hazardous in those areas.

KOMU Weather Plus predicts the high temperature on Christmas will be around 30 degrees in Columbia.

Historically Columbia has an average temperature on Christmas of 30.2 degrees. The record high for the holiday was 74 degrees in 1889, and the record low was -19 degrees in 1983.

The last accumulated snowfall on Christmas was in 2002, when there were 5 inches of snow on the ground.