Winter Storm in Kansas, January 29 to 31, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Kansas, January 29 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-01-29T17:00
End: 2002-01-31T14:00
Location: Kansas

January 29 to 31, 2002 · NWS TOP · 23 events in 23 counties and zones

northeast and east central Kansas in late January. Freezing rain mixed at times with sleet occurred across east central Kansas from the early evening of January 29 into the morning of January 31.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 23 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: $8.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 23

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 TOP wrote it up.

A major winter storm struck all of north central...northeast and east central Kansas in late January. Freezing rain mixed at times with sleet occurred across east central Kansas from the early evening of January 29 into the morning of January 31. The freezing rain accumulated as much as an inch and a half of glaze which caused considerable power line and tree damage. Many residents remained without power well into February. Several buildings collapsed under the weight of the ice doing considerable damage to the contents. A boat marina at Lake Perry collapsed under the weight of the ice and damaged or destroyed 19 boats. Northeast Kansas received mostly snow from the night of the 29th into the early afternoon of the 31st, although some sleet and freezing rain was mixed in at times. Snow fell across north central Kansas from the late morning of the 30th into the late afternoon of the 31st. Snowfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches occurred over north central and parts of northeast Kansas. The area in between the heavy glaze and heavy snow, roughly from Manhattan and Herington east to Topeka, received a heavy mixture of sleet mixed with freezing rain and snow. Many businesses, schools, colleges, and even the State Legislature were closed for several days because of the storm. Preliminary damage estimates are around 8 million dollars.

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 Topeka, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 29, 2:34 PM CST, 2 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 2:34 PM CST, 2 hours 26 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
313 AM CST TUE JAN 29 2002

MAIN FORECAST CONCERN IS SEVERITY OF APPROACHING WINTER STORM.

WAA CONTINUES TO OCCUR OVER THE SHALLOW DOME OF COLD AIR WITH LIGHT
FREEZING RAIN BREAKING OUT ACROSS NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL KS
ALREADY. WENT PRIMARILY WITH THE MESO ETA FOR THE WINTER STORM AS IT
DOES A BETTER JOB WITH THE SHALLOW COLD AIR. ALL MODELS AGREE THAT
WINTRY PRECIP WILL OCCUR THROUGH THURSDAY. LOOKING AT POINT
SOUNDINGS FROM THE MESO ETA...THE SNOW/MIX PRECIP LINE APPEARS TO
SET UP GENERALLY FROM COUNCIL GROVE TO TOPEKA. FREEZING RAIN AND
SLEET ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR EAST CENTRAL ZONES UNTIL LATE
WEDNESDAY NIGHT WHEN TEMPS BECOME COLD ENOUGH FOR SOME SNOW TO MIX
IN AND EVENTUALLY CHANGE COMPLETELY OVER TO SNOW LATE IN THE MORNING
THURSDAY. MIXED PRECIP ACROSS NORTHCENTRAL ZONES SHOULD CHANGE OVER
TO ALL SNOW SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT...WITH A MIXTURE OF SLEET
AND SNOW ACROSS THE NORTHEASTERN ZONES BEFORE CHANGING TO SNOW
WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ALL IN ALL...THINGS ARE PRETTY MESSY.

THE WAA ADVECTION PATTERN PERSISTS INTO WEDNESDAY WITH PIECES OF
WEAK VORTICITY MOVING OVER HEAD AND THE FA UNDER THE RIGHT ENTRANCE
REGION OF THE UPPER JET. HOWEVER...THINK THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL
OCCUR WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH BEGINS
TO MOVE OUT OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES AND THERE IS A LITTLE MORE COLD
AIR. INSTEAD OF MESSING WITH AN ADVISORY AND THEN CHANGING IT TO A
WARNING...HAVE GONE AHEAD AND ISSUED WINTER STORM WARNING FOR
TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY.

THINGS SHOULD BEGIN TO IMPROVE THURSDAY NIGHT AS THE UPPER TROUGH
MOVES EAST OF THE AREA. NO BIG CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED. AN INCREASE
IN CLOUDS FOR SATURDAY AND AGAIN FOR MONDAY AS MEDIUM RANGE MODELS
SHOW A COUPLE WEAK SHORT WAVES.

.TOP...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY FOR NORTH
CENTRAL NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL KANSAS.

WOLTERS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

23 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Anderson

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Anderson forecast zone
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.214, -95.293 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Brown

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Brown forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.827, -95.564 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Clay

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.350, -97.165 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cloud

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Cloud forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.480, -97.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Coffey

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Coffey forecast zone
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.237, -95.734 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dickinson

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Dickinson forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.867, -97.153 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Douglas

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Douglas forecast zone
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.885, -95.293 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Franklin

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Franklin forecast zone
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.565, -95.286 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Geary

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Geary forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.002, -96.752 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jackson

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.417, -95.794 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jefferson

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.236, -95.383 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lyon

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Lyon forecast zone
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.456, -96.153 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Marshall

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Marshall forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.784, -96.523 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Morris

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Morris forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.687, -96.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Nemaha

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Nemaha forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.784, -96.014 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Osage

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Osage forecast zone
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.652, -95.727 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Ottawa

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Ottawa forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.133, -97.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Pottawatomie

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Pottawatomie forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.379, -96.342 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Republic

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Republic forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.828, -97.651 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Riley

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Riley forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.297, -96.735 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Shawnee

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Shawnee forecast zone
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.042, -95.756 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wabaunsee

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Wabaunsee forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.953, -96.205 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Washington

When: January 29, 5:00 PM CST to January 31, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.784, -97.087 (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

Every storm in Kansas in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, January 2002

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: 5279059, 5279060, 5279061, 5279062, 5279063, 5279064, 5279065, 5279066, 5279067, 5279068, 5279069, 5279070, 5279071, 5279072, 5279073, 5279074, 5279075, 5279076, 5279077, 5279078, 5279079, 5279080, 5279081.