Talk About the Weather — Friday, September 25, 2026

RAIN ON THE GLASS. ART AFTER FIVE.

Kansas City starts Friday under a rain-heavy forecast, then pivots toward a 5 p.m. Plaza Art Fair opening and a 6:40 Royals first pitch. In between: a downtown stadium-financing agenda still awaiting final minutes, a major UMKC arts expansion now underway, three dependable lunch counters, and a nearly full moon trying to get through the cloud cover.

STEP OUTSIDE KC

At 7:22 a.m., Kansas City is around 60°F under mostly cloudy skies. The National Weather Service has showers and thunderstorms in the Friday forecast before late afternoon, with a high near 69°F, east-southeast wind around 7–9 mph and rain chances near 80–90%. Tonight stays mild in the low-to-mid 60s with more showers possible. Carry the shell all day. The 5 p.m. art-fair start lands after the main daytime storm window, but that is timing—not a promise of dry pavement.

LAST NIGHT IN THE METRO

Three downtown-stadium measures were on Thursday’s Kansas City Council agenda: a Downtown Stadium TIF plan and Stadium Impact Area Policy; an authorization for Missouri Development Finance Board revenue bonds of up to $560 million for a new stadium, team offices and supporting infrastructure in the Washington Square Park/Crown Center area; and a redevelopment-project/TIF designation. As of Friday morning, the City Clerk still marks the meeting minutes as draft and says actions and results are not available. These remain agenda items in this edition, not completed votes.

ROADS, RAMPS & WRECKS

Bannister remains the US-71 trouble spot. KC Scout shows both the northbound and southbound exits to Bannister Road closed through September 30, plus a northbound right-lane closure past Bannister scheduled through December 1. A separate I-670 eastbound incident before Genessee Street was also posted early Friday with an estimated clearance of 6 a.m. Saturday. Choose the alternate before you are committed to the ramp.

FROM THE STANDS

Friday night belongs to the K. Cleveland visits Kansas City at 6:40 p.m.; parking opens at 3 p.m., stadium gates at 5, and the first 20,000 fans receive a Salvador Perez City Connect bobblehead. The weekend keeps moving after that: the 2–0 Chiefs visit Miami Sunday at noon CDT. Sporting Kansas City also has a Saturday road date in Houston.

KC LUNCH LINE

MILDRED’S — CROSSROADS. 1901 Wyandotte. Friday hours run 7 a.m.–4 p.m. The counter covers scratch-made sandwiches, salads and soups; the Standard Breakfast Sandwich remains the house calling card.

BABA’S PANTRY — BROOKSIDE / 63RD STREET. 1019 E. 63rd St. The Palestinian pantry is open 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Friday. Hummus, falafel, shawarma and the larger pantry menu make it an easy sit-down-or-carry-out lunch stop.

TOWN TOPIC — BROADWAY. The menu still centers the things that made the counter famous: burgers, patty melts, hand-breaded pork tenderloin, chili, fries, rings and shakes. Pick the old-school lunch when the weather makes a booth sound better than a patio.

KC WITHOUT A COVER

LINDA HALL LIBRARY — Alchemy of Knowledge: Science and Mystery from Shakespeare to AI is open Friday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. at 5109 Cherry Street. Admission and on-site parking are free.

PLAZA ART FAIR — The 95th annual fair opens Friday from 5–9 p.m. on the Country Club Plaza and runs through Sunday. Visit KC includes the event in its no-cost event listings. The weather is the variable: check the sky again before leaving.

AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOODS

UMKC broke ground Wednesday on a $41 million expansion of the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center. The first phase adds about 35,000 square feet, including rehearsal/performance space, two dance halls, an accessible black-box theatre and gathering areas. UMKC says phase-one construction is expected to take about 18 months; the added space could expand dance and theatre enrollment by as much as 40% and substantially grow pre-college/community programming.

ARTS & CULTURE

The Plaza Art Fair turns 95 this weekend. Friday’s 5–9 p.m. opening is the first test: a major outdoor arts event meeting a day built around rain timing. That makes the fair less about a fixed itinerary and more about the hour between the forecast and the first walk down the Plaza. If the weather breaks, the night opens quickly.

A GRAIN OF RICE

Astrology below is editorial play. The sky facts are separate: the Moon is nearly full ahead of Saturday’s Harvest Moon, and NASA notes Saturn nearby with faint Neptune forming a wider triangle.

ARIES — Use the first clean opening instead of trying to force the whole day into one plan.

TAURUS — Pick one good table, one good errand and one thing worth staying out for.

GEMINI — The useful conversation is the one that changes what you do next.

CANCER — Home base matters today; make it comfortable enough that leaving feels like a choice.

LEO — Save the strongest entrance for later in the day.

VIRGO — Timing beats overplanning. Recheck the facts before committing.

LIBRA — Art, food and people are abundant; your job is editing the list.

SCORPIO — Notice what is still unresolved before treating it as settled.

SAGITTARIUS — Take the route with room to change course.

CAPRICORN — A slow build can still be real progress; foundations count.

AQUARIUS — Follow the unusual detail, but verify it before repeating it.

PISCES — Let the weather change the plan without changing the whole mood.

MOON NOTE

The Moon is nearly full tonight. NASA’s September skywatching guide puts the Harvest Moon on Saturday, September 26, rising in the east shortly after sunset with Saturn nearby and faint Neptune completing a broader triangle. Friday’s cloud cover may be the limiting factor.

EDITORIAL DISCOVERY

Friday has three useful clocks. The National Weather Service puts the strongest rain emphasis before late afternoon. The Plaza Art Fair opens at 5 p.m. Royals stadium gates also open at 5, with first pitch at 6:40. That makes 4–5 p.m. the real decision hour for the city’s outdoor evening—not lunchtime, and not after you are already parked.

FIVE FRIDAY CLOCKS

BEFORE 4 P.M. — Main daytime shower/thunderstorm window.

5 P.M. — Plaza Art Fair opens.

5 P.M. — Kauffman Stadium gates open.

6:40 P.M. — Guardians at Royals.

9 P.M. — Plaza Art Fair closes for opening night.

SOURCES

National Weather Service — https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?FcstType=text&TextType=1&lat=39.0929&lg=english&lon=-94.5632&unit=0

Kansas City Clerk — September 24 Council meeting — https://clerk.kcmo.gov/MeetingDetail.aspx?GUID=7CA0EB70-733E-4A2A-A1C6-574C2FE4BB78&ID=1443365&Options=&Search=

KC Scout Incident Viewer — https://www.kcscout.net/IncidentViewer.aspx

Kansas City Royals Homestand Highlights — https://www.mlb.com/royals/tickets/season-tickets/holders/homestand-highlights

Kansas City Chiefs Week 3 Game Center — https://www.chiefs.com/game-day/2026/reg-week3/chiefs-at-dolphins/

Sporting Kansas City — https://www.sportingkc.com/news/topics/weekly-schedule/

Mildred’s — https://www.mildredskc.com/

Baba’s Pantry — https://www.babaspantrykc.com/

Town Topic — https://www.towntopic.com/menu.html

Plaza Art Fair — https://www.plazaartfair.com/

Visit KC Free Events — https://www.visitkc.com/events/type/free-events/

Linda Hall Library — https://www.lindahall.org/experience/events/the-alchemy-of-knowledge-exhibition/plan-your-visit/

UMKC — https://www.umkc.edu/news/posts/2026/september/umkc-breaks-ground-on-41-million-conservatory-expansion.html

NASA/JPL-Caltech September Skywatching — https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/whats-up-september-2026-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/