I wish I could hit the reset button and start 2017 over. For the most part, it has been very, very bad. 

Yes, Alabama lost to Clemson Monday in the college football national championship game. Other than that, and two trips to Norton, this year is off to a putrid start. 

And it will get even worse this weekend, if that’s possible.

An epic ice storm, known as Winter Storm Jupiter if you’re a Weather Channel fanatic, is heading to Kansas. The worst ice, one inch or more, is expected between Hays and Junction City on I-70. 

That includes Russell. 

LOVELY. 

I hate sitting in my house in the middle of nowhere on a good day. On a day without power? I will be beyond miserable. BEYOND. FREAKING. MISERABLE. 

Not to mention my CPAP machine won’t operate. I’m okay as far as writing since the battery for my iPad will be charged, but the sleep will be hard to come by. Yikes. 

Kansas City looks good right now, but it might have the same problem. But I would be betting a hotel would not have the same problems as a rural residence. 

I wish it were zero degrees Faherenheit right now. That way the precipitation would fall only as snow. Right now, I would take two feet of snow. At least the power would not go out. 

This might be the most costly natural disaster in Kansas history. Forget the Topeka tornado of 1966. Forget Greensburg 2007. Forget Andover 1991. Forget Udall, Heston and Chapman, which all got smashed by tornadoes. This will be worse. Much worse. 

St. Louis is hell to live in on a good day, but right now, I can only imagine. The ice has arrived in the Gateway City, and with all those elevated bridges across the Mississippi, I’m sure it’s fun out there. NOT. 

The Chiefs and Steelers won’t play Sunday until 7:20 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for 12:05, but this afternoon at 2, the NFL announced the game was moving to the evening. The ice storm is supposed to exit Kansas City late Sunday morning, and the later start gives MoDOT time to clear the roads leading into the stadium and the Chiefs time to clear the parking lots and seating areas. 

It won’t be a problem getting back from Norton tonight. Tomorrow night might be the start of 72 hours of pure hell. The only thing which would be worse would be having a long power outage in the summer, but at least you could drive away immediately.