Ice Storm in Kansas, January 30 to 31, 2002

Name: Ice Storm in Kansas, January 30 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-01-30T08:00
End: 2002-01-31T12:00
Location: Kansas

January 30 to 31, 2002 · NWS ICT · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

9 ice storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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: $25 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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 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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 30, 2:56 AM CST, 5 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 2:56 AM CST, 5 hours 4 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
256 AM CST WED JAN 30 2002

WINTER STORM WARNING WILL CONTINUE FOR THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA WITH
SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS EXPECTED ACROSS THE NW...AND
DESTRUCTIVE ICE ACCUMULATIONS IN SC AND SE KS. CURRENTLY
WATCHING TWO BANDS OF PCPN ON RADAR. THE FIRST IN ALONG AND EAST OF
THE FLINT HILLS. THIS AREA OF PCPN CONVECTIVE IN NATURE WITH
LIGHTNING STRIKES NOTED...AND OCCURRING ON NOSE OF 40KT 850MB JET
AND IN 850MB THETA-E ADVECTION ZONE. MEANWHILE...PCPN BAND FROM
SOUTHWEST KS TO THE NE IS OCCURRING ALONG ZONE OF MAXIMUM 700MB
FRONTOGENESIS. WHILE MESOETA HAS UNDERDONE PCPN AMOUNTS WITH
CONVECTIVE PCPN IN SE KS...IT HAS THE RIGHT IDEA FORECASTING TWO QPF
BANDS THIS MORNING AND WAS THE MODEL OF CHOICE. IN SE KS...STRONG
850MB THETA-E ADVECTION/ISENTROPIC LIFT PERSISTS THROUGH 21Z...SO
DEVASTATING ICE STORM LIKELY HERE AND TRAVEL IS STRONGLY
DISCOURAGED. 700MB FRONTOGENESIS SHIFTS SOUTHEAST AND ALREADY
STARTING TO SEE EFFECTS HERE AT ICT AS PCPN RATES BEGINNING TO
INCREASE. THIS FRONTOGENESIS CONTINUE FROM
A ZONE FROM ANTHONY TO WICHITA TO COTTONWOOD FALLS THROUGH 21Z TO
00Z...AND ETA BUFKIT SOUNDINGS SHOW MAINLY A SLEET EVENT FOR ICT
WITH SLEET CHANGING TO SNOW AT HUT/SLN EARLY...IN FACT SNOW REPORTED
AT SLN AT 09Z. AS A RESULT...SNOWFALL TOTALS HERE MAY BE UP TO 3
INCHES BY EVENING. ACROSS RSL/GBD FORCING NOT AS GREAT AND LATEST
MESOETA DOESN/T BRING IN LIFT UNTIL AFTER 00Z. SO WILL DRASTICALLY
LOWER SNOWFALL TOTALS HERE FOR TODAY.

850MB THETA-E ADVECTION/ISENTROPIC LIFT DRASTICALLY INCREASE
TONIGHT...SO AFTER A BRIEF RESPITE FROM THE PCPN LATE THIS
EVENING/EARLY TONIGHT IN SC/SE KS...EXPECT PCPN TO EXPAND IN AREAL
COVERAGE AND INTENSITY. AGAIN ETA BUFKIT SOUNDINGS SNOW ALL SNOW FOR
HUT/SLN/RSL WITH SLEET PERHAPS CHANGING TO SNOW AT ICT...AND FZRA/IP
IN SE KS. WITH MIXING RATIO/S NEAR 4 G/KG...ACCUMULATIONS OVER 6
INCHES (AND MORE) QUITE POSSIBLE IN NW ZONES.

DRY SLOT WORKS INTO SOUTHERN KS EARLY THUR...SHUTTING OFF PCPN...BUT
ISENTROPIC LIFT CONTINUES ACROSS NRN ZONES THROUGH MOST OF THE
MORNING...SO WILL KEEP WINTER STORM WARNING IN PLACE THROUGH
THURSDAY MORNING. WITH BUFKIT SOUNDINGS SHOW ONLY A SHORT PERIOD
OF SNOW AT ICT...WILL LOWER SNOWFALL TOTALS HERE TO AROUND AN
INCH...AS TRACK OF HEAVIEST SNOW APPEARS TO BE NORTH AND WEST OF
HERE.

EXTENDED LOOKS GOOD...ONLY CHANGE WAS TO BRING DOWN HIGHS FRIDAY AS
SNOW COVER WILL INHIBIT WARMING.

FCSTID = 12/HYSELL
ICT   29  22  26  14 /  90  90  60   0
HUT   26  21  26  10 /  90  90  60   0
EWK   28  22  26  14 /  90  90  60   0
EQA   26  23  26  14 /  90  90  60   0
WLD   30  24  27  15 /  90  90  60   0
RSL   24  18  23   6 /  90  90  60   0
GBD   25  21  23   6 /  90  90  60   0
SLN   25  22  26  10 /  90  90  60   0
MPR   25  22  26  10 /  90  90  60   0
CFV   32  27  29  19 /  90  90  60   0
CNU   31  26  29  19 /  90  90  60   0
K88   30  25  28  18 /  90  90  60   0

.ICT...KS...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH THURSDAY FOR ZONES
KSZ032>033...KSZ047>053...KSZ067>068.

WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH THURSDAY FOR ZONES
KSZ069>072...KSZ082>083...KSZ091>096...KSZ098>100.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Greenwood

When: January 30, 8:00 AM CST to January 31, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Greenwood forecast zone
Property damage: $25 million
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.878, -96.233 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The same winter storm that all but paralized south-central Kansas hit southeast Kansas early on the morning of the 30th and lasted well into the morning of the 31st. Freezing rain was almost solely responsible for ice accumulations of 1-2 inches that caused widespread tree and power line damage. The resulting power outages affected nearly all of the region and lasted, in some cases, nearly a week.

Ice Storm, Woodson

When: January 30, 8:00 AM CST to January 31, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Woodson forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.887, -95.740 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Allen

When: January 30, 8:00 AM CST to January 31, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Allen forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.886, -95.301 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Elk

When: January 30, 8:00 AM CST to January 31, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Elk forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.454, -96.244 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Wilson

When: January 30, 8:00 AM CST to January 31, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Wilson forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.559, -95.743 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Neosho

When: January 30, 8:00 AM CST to January 31, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Neosho forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.559, -95.307 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Chautauqua

When: January 30, 8:00 AM CST to January 31, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Chautauqua forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.150, -96.245 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Montgomery

When: January 30, 8:00 AM CST to January 31, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.193, -95.743 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Labette

When: January 30, 8:00 AM CST to January 31, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Labette forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.191, -95.298 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Ice Storm: Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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: 5276840, 5276841, 5276842, 5276843, 5276844, 5276845, 5276846, 5276847, 5276848.