Ice Storm and Heavy Snow in Kansas, January 30 to 31, 2002

Name: Ice Storm and Heavy Snow in Kansas, January 30 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-01-30T04:00
End: 2002-01-31T21:00
Location: Kansas

January 30 to 31, 2002 · NWS EAX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: $9.8 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 EAX wrote it up.

A long-lived major ice and snow storm blasted much of eastern Kansas, January 29th through January 31st. Ice accumulations of 1 to 2 inches were observed with snow accumulations of 6 to 10 inches in Atchison and Doniphan counties. The results of the storm were devasting to many communities. A tremendous amount of people were without power for extended periods of times, due to downed trees and tree limbs crippling power supplies in the affected areas.

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 Kansas City, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 29, 5:05 PM CST, 10 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 5:05 PM CST, 10 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
505 PM CST TUE JAN 29 2002

SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM WILL IMPACT FORECAST AREA DURING
THE NEXT 48 HOURS. FREEZING DRIZZLE THIS MORNING ABATED FOR
A SHORT TIME...BUT NOW WSR-88D SHOWING BAND OF FZRA/IP FROM
CNU THROUGH MKC TO JUST SOUTH OF IRK. QG FORCING TONIGHT WILL
BE WEAK...WITH MAIN SOURCE OF PRECIP FROM ISENTROPIC LIFT.  THUS...
DID NOT MENTION WARNING THRESHOLD ICE/SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN
ZONES FOR TONIGHT.  BY TOMORROW...ISENTROPIC AND QG FORCING WORK
IN TANDUM...AND EXPECT SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OF ICE FOR
AREAS SOUTH OF A STJ TO IRK LINE...WITH SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS
NORTH OF THIS LINE.  TRANSITION ZONE...GENERALLY MARKED BY A IRK TO
CDJ TO PLH TO PAOLA LINE...WILL SEE PRECIP TYPE VACILATE THROUGH THE
DAY TOMORROW.  AREA WILL SEE A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK TOMORROW NIGHT
AS SURFACE LOW AND UPPER SHORTWAVE MOVE EAST OF AREA...BUT AS
MID-UPR LEVEL DEFORMATION ZONE ROTATES ACROSS AREA ON
THURSDAY...SNOW WILL FALL AGAIN IN EARNEST. USED 1555 850-700MB
THICKNESS FROM ETA SOUNDINGS AS DETERMINING FACTOR FOR SNOW VERSUS
ICE.  BASED ON ETA SPECIFIC HUMIDITY FLUX LONG 280-290K
LEVELS...GUESSTIMATE ON SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 8-12 POSSIBLE ACROSS
NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL ZONES...WITH 4 TO 8 INCHES FROM KC
METRO AREA TO IRK.  ONE HALF TO 3/4 INCH OF ICE AND 1 TO 2 INCH
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE IN DMO...BOONVILLE AND CLINTON AREAS.
SNOW WILL TAPER OFF THURSDAY NIGHT...ENDING ACROSS THE ENTIRE
AREA LATE THURSDAY NIGHT. WHEW

THE LONGER TERM PORTION OF FORECAST LOOKS QUIET...THANKFULLY.
GENERALLY USED NCEP NUMBERS IN OUT PERIODS.

.EAX...
KS...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY.
MO...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY.

SF/DB/LVQ

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 ice storm, 2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Johnson

When: January 30, 4:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:30 AM CST
Where: Johnson forecast zone
Property damage: $5.0 million
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.884, -94.822 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Leavenworth

When: January 30, 4:00 AM CST to January 31, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Leavenworth forecast zone
Property damage: $1.0 million
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.199, -95.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Linn

When: January 30, 4:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Linn forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.212, -94.843 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Miami

When: January 30, 4:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Miami forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.564, -94.838 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Wyandotte

When: January 30, 4:00 AM CST to January 31, 11:30 AM CST
Where: Wyandotte forecast zone
Property damage: $3.5 million
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.115, -94.764 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Atchison

When: January 30, 4:00 PM CST to January 31, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Atchison forecast zone
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.532, -95.313 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Doniphan

When: January 30, 4:00 PM CST to January 31, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Doniphan forecast zone
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.788, -95.147 (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.
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5283226, 5283227, 5283228, 5283229, 5283230, 5283224, 5283225.