This is a running-updates post documenting events covered in the month of February 2025.
Models had locked onto this freezing rain event a week out, it was just a question of where to go for daytime impacts. Kansas City ended up being the epicenter of this one, with the bulk of the freezing drizzle occurring before twilight. I felt that a good chance for similar impacts existed somewhere in central Missouri as a combination of wet bulbing and cold advection brought temperatures to critical (29°F or below) somewhere along/north of I-70. I left home at 2AM with an initial staging target of Columbia, MO, intending to evaluate either north or west options from there. I initially decided to try intercepting the Kansas City freezing drizzle event, as I expected it to migrate east through the morning. However when I stopped for a data check in Boonville, it was clear the critical temperatures and road impact zones were not expanding east as I originally expected.
With heavier rain showing up on radar heading toward St. Louis and temperatures there within wet-bulb range of critical, I decided that the northwestern metro area would be favored for any impacts. Despite temperatures hovering right at freezing on I-70, the car was icing efficiently. The temperatures were not cooling further, though, and it appeared our chances of reaching critical temps were fading. I turned north on Highway 61 and stopped for gas at Moscow Mills. During this stop, temperatures rose from 32°F to 33°F, signalling that the model-forecast surge in temperatures from south to north was already in progress, mostly ending the threat for icy roads within my intercept range. After de-icing the car (that is, making sure there were no window-breaking chunks that could fly off), I turned toward home at 8AM.
