Kansas, 2001

Winter Storm in Kansas, February 27, 2001

February 27, 2001 · NWS GID · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

The final winter storm of February 2001 came rolling into north-central Kansas during the early morning of the 27th. The snow finally tapered off in the early afternoon hours around Mankato, but not before leaving 10 inches of new snow behind in Woodruff.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
6

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 GID wrote it up.

The final winter storm of February 2001 came rolling into north-central Kansas during the early morning of the 27th. The snow finally tapered off in the early afternoon hours around Mankato, but not before leaving 10 inches of new snow behind in Woodruff. Esbon reported 9 inches of new snow and Beloit, 7 inches. Much of north-central Kansas received 4 to 7 inches of snow. Unlike previous storms, blowing and drifting was held to a minimum as the wind was not too strong. None-the-less, most area schools chose to give school kids a snow day. Some schools had already begun to lengthen the school day, or add class days to make up for time lost due to snow days.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 27, 2:25 AM CST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 27, 2:25 AM CST, 3 hours 35 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
225 AM CST TUE FEB 27 2001

...HOW FAR NORTH TO BRING WARNINGS/ADVISORIES MAIN PRBLM...

UAA/WV IMAGERY HAVE GOT ME WORRIED. BOTH INDICATE A VIGOROUS WAVE
LIFTING INTO THE CNTRL ROCKIES ATT ON THE NOSE OF A 120KT H25 JET.
THIS JET HAS A GOOD SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE FEED WHICH IS TAKING AIM
ON CWA. FURTHER DOWN...H85 ARCTIC FRONT HAS STALLED NEAR NEB/KS
BORDER...PER PROFILERS. IT WILL REMAIN IN PLACE PRETTY MUCH THRU
12Z...BEFORE SINKING SOUTH. THIS STRONGLY SUPPORTED BY PROFILERS
WHICH SHOW 5-15KT EAST FLOW OVER ALL OF NEB. PROFILERS ALSO SHOW
20KT LLJ KICKING IN FROM HVLK1-VTIO2. A BRIEF SPURT TO 30-35KT WAS
...HOPEFULLY...BIRDS. ETA...WHICH WAS MOST AGGRESSIVE IN LIFTING SNOW
INTO NEB WAS VERIFYING NICELY WITH THIS. BOTH KUEX/KGLD 88D SHOWING
RAPID EXPANSION OF ECHOS OF 20-30DBZ...W/ IR IMAGERY SHOWING MAIN
CLDTOP ENHANCEMENT STILL S AND W GLD. CALLS TO A FEW SPOTS IN MAIN
SNOW BAND REPORTED 1-2 INCHES OF NEW SNOW AS OF 1 AM. WILL READJUST
BASED LOOSELY ON ETA QPF...BUT TRIM BACK NRN AREAS SOMEWHAT.

WILL INCLUDE SRN 2 ROWS OF NEB CNTYS IN WARNING AND NEXT ROW UP IN
AN ADVISORY. WILL RE-EVALUATE THIS BASED ON RADAR TRENDS. GARCIA
SUGGESTS 6-8 INCH TOTALS. BATTLE BTWN 15-20:1 RATIO TEMPS AND LLVL
DRYING OF SNOW AS ARCTIC AIR WILL BE INTERESTING IN FINAL TALLIES.
IF YOU TRUST 06Z-09Z ETA QPF -VS- REPORTS...A 20:1 RATIO IS BEING
REALIZED SO FAR.

OTHERWISE...TEMPS GO NOWHERE TODAY AS ARCTIC HI BUILDS IN AND CLDS
REMAIN OVER CWA. WILL KEEP HIGHS BTWN 10-15 DEGREES NORTH TO ABOUT
20 NC KS. CLDS SLOW TO CLEAR TONIGHT. NRN AREAS SHOULD SEE PARTLY
CLOUDY SKIES AND VERY COLD TEMPS AS HI SETTLES OVER AREA. M CLDY
SOUTH W/ LOWS HOLDING ABOVE ZERO ANYWAY. MODERATING WEST FLOW WED
SHOULD HELP HIGHS INTO THE 20S...TO MAYBE 30. NOT QUITE AS COLD
WED NIGHT AS ARCTIC AIR MASS SHIFTS WELL SOUTH AND CLDS STREAM IN
AS SW WV EJECTS TOWARD REGION. PER COORD W/ TOP...AM INCLINED TO
INCLUDE SCT POPS AS WELL.

EXTENDED VERY...VERY MUDDY. MRF PARKS H5 LOW OVER NEB INTO WEEKEND.
ECMWF SUPPORTS THIS...BUT NOGAPS/CANADIAN/UKMET HOLD BACK ENERGY FOR
A DAY OR TWO AND THEN SCOOT IT TO OUR SOUTH...BUT KEEPS US IN SW FLOW
MUCH OF TIME. WILL ADD SNOW CHC AT LEAST TO THU W/ INITIAL WV & KEEP
TEMPS DOWN THRU WEEKEND IN ANTICIPATION OF UNSETTLED WX.

.GID...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY ,NC KS-SRN 2 ROWS OF NEB COUNTIES
       SNOW ADVISORY IN ROW OF COUNTIES JUST NORTH OF WARNING.

GURNEY

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Jewell

When
February 27, 6:00 AM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where
Jewell forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.785, -98.218 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Mitchell

When
February 27, 6:00 AM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where
Mitchell forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.393, -98.209 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Osborne

When
February 27, 6:00 AM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where
Osborne forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.350, -98.768 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Phillips

When
February 27, 6:00 AM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where
Phillips forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.785, -99.347 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Rooks

When
February 27, 6:00 AM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where
Rooks forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.350, -99.325 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Smith

When
February 27, 6:00 AM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where
Smith forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.785, -98.785 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Kansas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, February 2001

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5231374, 5231375, 5231376, 5231377, 5231378, 5231379.