Winter storm moves into large swath of Missouri

(AP)Numerous traffic accidents were reported Saturday as a winter storm brought freezing rain and snow to Missouri.

Winter storm warnings were in effect for much of the state, except the extreme southeast, where flood warnings have been issued, said Julie Adolphson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Kansas City suburb of Pleasant Hill, Mo.

She said freezing rain and sleet began hitting south-central and southwest Missouri on Friday night. Throughout Saturday the freezing precipitation began spreading to the north and east, making driving dangerous in some areas. Accidents were being reported Saturday along Interstates 70, 35 and 435 in the Kansas City metropolitan area and in points to the north and east.

The freezing rain was expected to switch to snow in the evening hours in west-central and northwest Missouri. Adolphson said the snowfall would taper off overnight and end in most areas by daybreak. Forecasts called for the accumulations to range from 6 inches or more in northwest Missouri to 1 inch or less in an area from Clinton to Columbia.

Starting Sunday, temperatures were expected to begin dropping, with wind chills as low as minus 10 degrees forecast for Monday morning and minus 25 degrees possible for Tuesday morning in the northern third of the state.

On Christmas Day, the forecast includes a slight chance of light snow or rain in northwest and north-central Missouri, Adolphson said.