Blizzard in Kansas, March 15, 2001

Name: Blizzard in Kansas, March 15, 2001
Start: 2001-03-15T04:00
End: 2001-03-15T12:00
Location: Kansas

March 15, 2001 · NWS GLD · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Blizzard conditions affected parts of northwest Kansas. Sections of Interstate 70 were closed and travelers were stranded.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

Blizzard conditions affected parts of northwest Kansas. Sections of Interstate 70 were closed and travelers were stranded. In addition, snowfall amounts ranged from three to six inches with some higher drifts due to very strong winds.

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 Mar 15, 2:30 AM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 15, 2:30 AM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
230 AM MST THU MAR 15 2001

PROBLEM OF THE DAY WILL BE WITH THE STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS BETWEEN 35
TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH ACROSS EAST CENTRAL COLORADO AND NW
KANSAS TODAY. ALSO -RA CHANGING TO -SN ACROSS THE EASTERN FA AND
JUST HOW MUCH SNOW WILL FALL HERE.

INTENSE MID LVL LOW OVER CENTRAL KANSAS THIS MORNING WAS TIGHTENING
PRESSURE GRADIENTS ACROSS THE TRI STATE AREA THIS MORNING. SFC WINDS
ACROSS EAST CENTRAL COLORADO HAD GUSTS ALREADY IN THE MIDDLE 50S.
THE MODELS SEEM TO BE UNDERFORECASTING WINDS TONIGHT. THE FLP
GUIDANCE RAISED WINDS INTO THE UPPER 30S TO MIDDLE 40S TODAY FOR ALL
THE CWA EXCEPT FOR THE NEBRASKA COUNTIES. ALSO THE PREFFERED ETA HAD
850/WINDS AT 50KTS IN HLC THIS MORNING.

ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE INTENSE MID LVL LOW THE 88D WAS SHOWING PCPN
INCREASING OVER THE EASTERN FA WHERE TMPS WHERE AROUND 40F. WITH
COLDER AIR ADVECTING INTO THE CWA THIS MORNING THE -RA WILL CHANGE
OVER THE SNOW WHERE A INCH OR TWO OF SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE. THEREFORE
ACROSS THE EASTERN FA...WHERE THE COMBINATION OF STRONG TO DAMAGING
WINDS ALONG WITH SOME ACCUMULATING SNOW I WILL ISSUE A WINTER STORM
WARNING. THE REMAINDER OF THE FA IN A HIGH WINDS WARNING EXCEPT
FOR THE NEBRASKA ZONES WHERE A WINTER WX ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TODAY
FOR 1-2 INCHES OF SNOW AND BRIEF SUSTAINED WINDS BETWEEN 30-40 MPH.

THE LOW FINALLY MOVES AWAY FROM THE CWA THIS EVENING AND WINDS WILL
SLACKEN FROM WEST TO EAST. WINDS SHUD DIMINISH CONSIDERABLY OVERNITE
AND TMPS WILL FALL TO NEAR 20 BY MORNING.

A WEAK 5H/RIDGE WILL MOVE INTO THE FA FRIDAY AND TMPS SHUD MAKE A
REBOUND UNDER PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES. ANOTHER MID LVL LOW PUSHES
INTO COLORADO FRIDAY NITE AND OUR WINDS WILL BECOME AN EASTERLY
UPSLOPE. THE COMBINATION OF THE LOW AND UPSLOPE -SN SHUD DEVELOP.
THE LOW TRACKS ACROSS THE TRI STATE AREA SATURDAY AND -SN SHUD
PERSIST INTO SATURDAY NITE.

ANOTHER BREAK IN THE CWA WEATHER IS LIKELY ON A DRIER NW FLOW FOR
LATE SUNDAY THAT WILL CONT INTO THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK WEEK. BY
MONDAY A LEE SIDE TROF DEVELOPS AND MOVES THRU THE FA. AFTN TMPS SHUD
RISE WELL INTO THE 50S INTO MIDWEEK WITH DRY CONDITIONS PREVAILING.

.GLD...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR DECATUR-GOVE-GRAHAM-NORTON-SHERIDAN
COUNTIES IN KANSAS TODAY. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TODAY
FOR DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW COUNTIES IN NEBRASKA. HIGH WIND
WARNING IS IN EFFECT TODAY FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN EAST CENTRAL
COLORADO AND NORTHWEST KANSAS...CHEYENNE KS-GREELEY-LOGAN-RAWLINS-
SHERMAN-THOMAS-CHEYENNE CO-KIT CARSON-YUMA-WALLACE-WICHITA.

VP

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, Decatur

When: March 15, 4:00 AM MST to 12:00 PM MST
Where: Decatur forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.785, -100.460 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Gove

When: March 15, 4:00 AM MST to 12:00 PM MST
Where: Gove forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.916, -100.483 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Graham

When: March 15, 4:00 AM MST to 12:00 PM MST
Where: Graham forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.350, -99.883 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Norton

When: March 15, 4:00 AM MST to 12:00 PM MST
Where: Norton forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.784, -99.903 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Blizzard, Sheridan

When: March 15, 4:00 AM MST to 12:00 PM MST
Where: Sheridan forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.350, -100.442 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Blizzard: Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kansas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, March 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: 5237747, 5237748, 5237749, 5237750, 5237751.