Winter Storm, Greeley
- When
- January 16, 5:00 AM MST to 9:00 PM MST
- Where
- Greeley forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.481, -101.806 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Storm in Kansas, January 16, 2001
A low pressure system moving out of the four corners region into the high plains brought some heavy snow to sections of west central Kansas early on the 16th before ending later that evening. Snowfall amounts varied from 6 to 10 inches by early evening causing hazardous driving conditions for travelers.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
- 2
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 GLD wrote it up.
A low pressure system moving out of the four corners region into the high plains brought some heavy snow to sections of west central Kansas early on the 16th before ending later that evening. Snowfall amounts varied from 6 to 10 inches by early evening causing hazardous driving conditions for travelers.
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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 16, 2:29 AM MST, 2 hours 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 16, 2:29 AM MST, 2 hours 31 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 229 AM MST TUE JAN 16 2001 ...CHALLENGES ARE AMOUNTS AND LOCATIONS OF SNOW TODAY AND EARLY TONIGHT... MODELS ALL VERY SIMILAR AT INITIALIZATION WITH RESPECT TO DEVELOPING SYSTEM IN SW MOVING EAST THIS AM. HAVE DECIDED TO GO WITH ETA AND AVN COMBO AS THEY BOTH DID THE BEST JOB WITH RESPECT TO SNOW INITIATION AREAS AND ORIENTATION IN E CO AND WSW KS JUST BEFORE 06Z. MAIN SYSTEM SLOWLY DEVELOPING NEAR 06Z WITH TWO APPARENT SFC CENTERS...ONE IN N CEN AZ AND ONE IN SW NM. HOWEVER KEY TO WEATHER DEVELOPING IN CEN HIGH PLAINS ATTM IS DEVELOPING UPSLOPE/ISENTROPIC LIFT. SFC RIDGE NEAR STATIONARY FROM E WY THRU W NEB THRU CEN KS INTO AR. UPPER RIDGE LINE ORIENTED IN SIMILAR FASHION WITH 50H LINE BEING OVER NE CO THRU SW KS AND MOVING SLOWLY NE. AS IT DOES IT SLOWS AND AN AREA OF UPPER DIVERGENCE SETS UP OVER MUCH OF W KS/E CO THRU TONIGHT. MORE DYNAMIC SUPPORT INDICATED OVER AREA BY +UVV AT 70H SOUTH AND WEST OF A LINE FROM NEAR IML NEB SE TO NEAR ICT KS DURING SAME PD. MAX UVV MOVES FROM SE CO ESE ACROSS OK PANHANDLE DURING SAME PD. FINALLY ANALYSIS OF 290K ISENTROPIC SFC SHOWS LIGHT TO MOD UPGLIDE IN SW KS AND SE CO AND SOME IN SW PTN MY CWA. THIS ALSO OCCURS DURING SAME PD WITH SPECIFIC HUMIDITY AVERAGING 1.5 TO 2.5 G/KG IN SW PTN OF MY CWA DURING PD WITH GREATER VALUES OVER SE CO AND SW KS. ACCORDINGLY THIS IS HOW I HAVE SET UP MY SNOWFALL AMT EXPECTATIONS. SHARP DROPOFF OF MOISTURE/UPSLOPE/UVV NE OF IML TO ICT LINE MENTIONED EARLIER. SO HAVE ABRUPTLY LOWERED TO LITTLE TO NO SNOW AMTS NE OF THAT LINE (NE 1/3RD OF MY CWA). WITH HEAVY CLOUDINESS AND PRECIP TODAY HAVE KEPT TEMPS IN THE 20S. CLOUDINESS HANGS ON TONIGHT WITH LIGHT WINDS AND DECREASING PRECIP AS UPPER SYSTEM TO SOUTH MOVES VERY SLOWLY EAST. AT SAME TIME ISENTROPIC UPSLOPE STOPS. BY WED HIGH PRESSURE TAKES OVER AGAIN WITH SOME SUBSIDENCE AND CLEARING. WED NIGHT MODELS SHOW COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS CWA FROM NW PUSHED BY STRENGTHENING HIGH IN AREA OF ID. CHANCE OF SNOW ASSOCIATED WITH S/W SUPPORTING COLD FRONT. HAVE MADE NO CHANGES TO EXTENDED ATTM. CONTINUED COLD WITH ENHANCED NNW FLOW MOVING IN BEHIND BROAD UPPER TROUGH THAT FINALLY MOVES EAST OF PLAINS ON THU. THANKS TO DDC FOR COORDINATION. .GLD...SNOW ADVISORY TODAY FOR CHEYENNE CTY CO AND GREELEY AND WICHITA CTY lKS. RJC
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Winter Storm, Wichita
- When
- January 16, 6:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
- Where
- Wichita forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.482, -101.347 (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
- Lightning Strike in Oklahoma, January 16, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Kansas, January 16 to 17, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Texas, January 16 to 17, 2001
- Winter Storm in New Mexico, January 16 to 17, 2001
- Rip Current in Guam, January 16, 2001
- Frost and Freeze in California, January 16 to 18, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, January 16 to 17, 2001
- Hail in Arizona, January 16, 2001
- High Wind in Utah, January 16, 2001
- Frost and Freeze in Delaware, January 16, 2001
- Winter Storm in Colorado, January 16, 2001
- High Wind in Alaska, January 16 to 17, 2001
More
Every storm in Kansas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, January 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: 5230093, 5230094.