Gusty north winds are expected this weekend creating dangerous wind chill conditions.

Keep your pets inside. Make sure your neighbors, especially the elderly, are safe.

Unfortunately, we’re already experiencing frigid wind chill temperatures. In its hazardous weather outlook issued at 5:09 a.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service office in Wichita (NWSW) noted that wind chills from -5 to -7 degrees will grip all of central Kansas Thursday morning.

Snow is expected to spread across Kansas Saturday night and continue through Sunday afternoon and evening. NWSW says that now amounts are not clear at this time but nearly all areas are expected to get accumulating snow, with the lighter amounts expected near the Oklahoma and Kansas state line and the high amounts into central Kansas.

North winds sustained from 15 to 25 mph with 30 to 35 mph gusts are expected. This will create blowing and drifting snow with the blowing snow expected to continue into Sunday night. The blowing snow could reduce visibilities.

Wind chills of -5 to -10 degrees are expected across southern Kansas Sunday. Much colder wind chills of -10 to -20 degrees will be possible Saturday night and Sunday morning north of a line from Great Bend to Lyons to McPherson to Marion.

Sunday night and into Monday morning, winds chills of -10 to -20 degrees with be possible region wide. The coldest wind chills are expected north of a line from Iola to Eureka to Burns to Newton to Lyons to Great Bend.

Monday night and Tuesday morning, wind chills of zero to -10 degrees will be likely north of a line from Hutchinson to Newton to Marion. These wind chills will diminish by mid morning Tuesday.

The forecasts for the upcoming weekend should be monitored closely.