With a winter storm warning in place drivers are being advised to check road conditions before heading out the door.

The National Weather Service said the winter storm warning will remain in effect for northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas until 9 p.m.  Periods of snow, fleet and freezing rain are anticipated to continue through much of the day before coming to an end later this evening. The weather service has updated its snow and ice amounts to bring the heavier snow amounts a bit further south toward St. Joseph, Atchison and Bethany, where 4″ to 6″ of snow and sleet could fall. A band of icing was also anticipated to occur from the KC metro northeast toward Chillicothe and Milan. However, the potential is there for quite a bit of sleet to fall, and if too much sleet falls these snow and ice amounts will go down. Areas that see more than a tenth of an inch of ice could see tree damage and power outages due to very gusty winds later tonight.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is urging drivers to check road conditions using MoDOT’s traveler information map before heading out.  CLICK HERE to see the latest.