Heavy Snow, Leavenworth
- When
- January 27, 4:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Leavenworth forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.199, -95.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Kansas, January 27, 1997
A band of sleet and freezing rain developed just before daybreak and moved through the western half of the Kansas City Metro area during morning drivetime. A coating to an inch of ice built up on streets and roadways which significantly slowed morning traffic and resulted in several minor traffic accidents.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS EAX wrote it up.
A band of sleet and freezing rain developed just before daybreak and moved through the western half of the Kansas City Metro area during morning drivetime. A coating to an inch of ice built up on streets and roadways which significantly slowed morning traffic and resulted in several minor traffic accidents. Later in the morning the mixed precipitation changed over to heavy snow which persisted into the early afternoon hours. Snowfall amounts ranged from 3 to 5 inches across Leavenworth County to 6 inches at Bonner Springs, Olathe and Stanley, 6.5 inches Lenexa and Overland Park and 7 inches in Kansas City, KS. Temperatures during the precipitation were in the 10 to 15 degree range which made salting efforts ineffective in breaking up ice build up on roadways. Shortly after the snow ended, winds gusting up to 30 MPH pushed temperatures down close to zero with wind chills between 20 and 40 below zero and drifted the snow as deep as 2 to 4 feet in some locations. A 66 year old Olathe man died while refueling a snowblower in his garage. The cause of the death is not known.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Wyandotte
- When
- January 27, 4:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Wyandotte forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.115, -94.764 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Johnson
- When
- January 27, 4:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Johnson forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.884, -94.822 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Cold in New Mexico, January 27, 1997
- Tornado in Texas, January 27, 1997
- Winter Storm in Vermont, January 27 to 28, 1997
- Winter Storm in Missouri, January 27, 1997
- Winter Storm in New York, January 27 to 28, 1997
- Winter Storm in Indiana, January 27, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, January 27, 1997
- Winter Storm in New York, January 27 to 28, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Missouri, January 27, 1997
- Tornado in Texas, January 27, 1997
- Cold in Nebraska, January 27, 1997
- Tornado in Texas, January 27, 1997
More
Every storm in Kansas in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, January 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5587036, 5587037, 5587038.