Heavy Snow in Kansas, January 30 to 31, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Kansas, January 30 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-01-30T11:00
End: 2002-01-31T09:00
Location: Kansas

January 30 to 31, 2002 · NWS DDC · 21 events in 21 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 21 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: 21

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 DDC wrote it up.

Heavy snow fell over a good portion of the area with four to eight inches of snow common. Eight to twelve inch snow amounts were reported over southeast Stevens, Seward and southwest Meade counties, as well as from Hodgeman into Ness, Trego, Rush and Ellis counties. There were indirect fatalities and injuries from the storm. Two women died in a head-on collision that occurred west of Dodge City in very low visibilities in blowing snow. Six people were injured due to roll-over accidents.

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 Dodge City, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 30, 4:20 AM CST, 6 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 4:20 AM CST, 6 hours 40 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 30, 5:00 AM CST, 6 hours before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

21 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Edwards

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Edwards forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.888, -99.312 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ellis

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Ellis forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.915, -99.317 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Finney

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Finney forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.044, -100.737 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ford

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Ford forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.692, -99.888 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Grant

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Grant forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.562, -101.308 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Gray

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Gray forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.738, -100.438 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hamilton

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Hamilton forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.999, -101.791 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Haskell

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Haskell forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.562, -100.871 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Hodgeman

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Hodgeman forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.088, -99.898 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kearny

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Kearny forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.000, -101.320 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lane

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Lane forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.481, -100.466 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Meade

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Meade forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.238, -100.366 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Morton

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Morton forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.191, -101.799 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ness

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Ness forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.479, -99.916 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Pawnee

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Pawnee forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.181, -99.237 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Rush

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Rush forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.523, -99.309 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Scott

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Scott forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.482, -100.907 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Seward

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Seward forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.193, -100.851 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Stanton

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Stanton forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.563, -101.784 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Stevens

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Stevens forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 37.192, -101.312 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Trego

When: January 30, 11:00 AM CST to January 31, 9:00 AM CST
Where: Trego forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 38.914, -99.873 (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

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5279563, 5279564, 5279565, 5279566, 5279567, 5279568, 5279569, 5279570, 5279571, 5279572, 5279573, 5279574, 5279575, 5279576, 5279577, 5279578, 5279579, 5279580, 5279581, 5279582, 5279583.