Cold Snap Forecast for Missouri: The Next Arctic Blast
In Kansas City the coldest week is usually Jan 15 to 21, with a normal low of 19°F, and the coldest night of the last 10 winters was −16°F on Jan 15, 2024.
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for Kansas City.
Normals and records at Kansas City International Airport
Coldest week
Jan 15 to 21Normal low 19°F
Coldest night, last 10 winters
−16°FJan 15, 2024
First freeze
Oct 27Median of 10 winters
Record low
−23°FTwice, last on Dec 23, 1989 (records since 1972)
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at Missouri reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
Kansas CityKansas City International Airport, USW00003947
Jan 15 to 21
19°F
−16°FJan 15, 2024
Oct 27
−23°FTwice, last on Dec 23, 1989records since 1972
St. LouisSt. Louis Lambert International Airport, USW00013994
Jan 16 to 22
23°F
−7°FJan 14, 2024
Nov 1
−18°FJan 20, 1985records since 1938
SpringfieldSpringfield, USW00013995
Jan 13 to 19
24°F
−15°FFeb 16, 2021
Oct 29
−17°FFeb 9, 1979records since 1940
ColumbiaColumbia Regional Airport, USW00003945
Jan 15 to 21
22°F
−11°FJan 14, 2024
Oct 29
−20°FDec 22, 1989records since 1969
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Kansas City against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 4 Missouri reference stations.
At Kansas City it is usually Jan 15 to 21, with a normal low of 19°F. At the other reference stations: St. Louis Jan 16 to 22 (23°F), Springfield Jan 13 to 19 (24°F) and Columbia Jan 15 to 21 (22°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Kansas City reaches 32°F around Nov 20 and 20°F around Jan 5. The first actual freeze came around Oct 27 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Kansas City was −16°F on Jan 15, 2024, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was −7°F. Elsewhere: St. Louis −7°F on Jan 14, 2024, Springfield −15°F on Feb 16, 2021 and Columbia −11°F on Jan 14, 2024. The record at the Kansas City station is −23°F, most recently on Dec 23, 1989, in daily records since 1972.
At Kansas City a typical recent winter brings 98 nights at 32°F or colder, 36 at 20°F or colder and 4 at zero or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Kansas City International Airport (USW00003947), St. Louis Lambert International Airport (USW00013994), Springfield (USW00013995) and Columbia Regional Airport (USW00003945). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
