Winter Storm in Kansas, January 30 to 31, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Kansas, January 30 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-01-30T20:00
End: 2002-01-31T16:00
Location: Kansas

January 30 to 31, 2002 · NWS GID · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

An average of 8 to 12 inches of snow fell on north-central Kansas as January came to a close. In Beloit, the 1st major winter storm of the season dumped 14 inches of fresh powder.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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: 6

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 GID wrote it up.

An average of 8 to 12 inches of snow fell on north-central Kansas as January came to a close. In Beloit, the 1st major winter storm of the season dumped 14 inches of fresh powder. The area along Highway 24 across northern Osborne and northern Mitchell counties received the most snow. Traffic was at a stand still and schools were closed. The snow did bring badly needed moisture to the very dry winter wheat crop in the region.

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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 30, 2:20 PM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 2:20 PM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
220 PM CST WED JAN 30 2002

ONLY -SN WITH < INCH ACCUMULATION REPORTED OVR NCNTRL KS AND NEB
BRDR COUNTIES AS OF 20Z.  RADAR SHOWS MORE PCPN COMING UP THE ROAD
...SO NR TWO BY DARK NOT OUT OF THE QN FOR THE KS CWA.  MEANWHILE
TOP RELAYED THAT TWO TO THREE INCHES HAD FALLEN WITH THE BANDS IN
THEIR ADJACENT ZONES.

FORCING VIA ISENTROPIC LIFT WL CONT THRU AT LEAST THU MRNG...NGM IS
MORE PERSISTANT WITH THIS FEATURE...WHILE AVN AND ETA DOWNGLIDE FOR
THE MOST PART BY 18Z.  BEST SPPRTG DVRGNC FIELDS ARE PROGGED TO
SHIFT EAST UNDR RRQ BY THU AM.  MID LVL EPV FIELD ALSO IS
SHIFTED...ALTHOUGH NEG VALUES STILL PROGGED OVR THE EXTREME SERN
ZONES AS OF 12Z THU.  MIX RATIOS PROGGED 2 TO 3 G/KG TO START WITH
ADVECTION OF 4 TO 5 G/KG.  EFFICIENY NOT TOO BAD OVR THE CNTRL CWA
TNGT WITH ABOUT -12 C CUTTING THRU OMEGA CENTROID OVR GRI AS PER ETA
TSCT...NOT AS GOOD FOR POINTS SOUTH.

MID LVL TROF AXIS NOT PROGGED OVR CWA TIL 00Z FRI...WITH NGM
SPORTING A CUTTOFF A 500 MB.  SEE NO EVIDENCE TO ALTER CURRENT
THROUGH THU TIMING...ALTHOUGH BEST CHANCE FOR +SN WL BE TNGT FOR THE
GID CWA.  BOTTOM LINE IS A CONTINUATION OF THE SERN ZONES
WARNING...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR CNTRL PART OF THE CWA WAS ISSUED
AT NOON WITH 6 TO 10 INCHES EXPECTED ACRS THE WARNED AREAS BY THE
END OF THE GAME LATE THU.

FOR THE NWRN THIRD OF THE CWA...OVRRUNNING OF THE COLD SFC AIRMASS
WL CONT WITH GRADUAL SATURATION AND DVLPMNT OF -SN BY EVE.  LONGER
SATURATION TIME...DRY AIR ADVECTING IN EARLIER ALNG WITH LOSS OF UPR
SPPRT WL KP ANY AMOUNTS LOW...ALTHOUGH ADVISORY WENT OUT AT NOON AS
ENUF SN EXPECTED TO BE A NUISANCE.

ADJUSTMENTS IN THE EXTENDED PDS INCLUDE DOWNWARD TEMPERATURE TWEAKS
WITH EXPECTED SN COVER.  ALSO...WL GO WITH QUICKER MRF/12Z
AVN/CANADIAN FOR EARLY WEEK CLIPPER...CHC -SN FOR MON.

.GID...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH THURSDAY FOR SOUTHEASTERN CWA.
NEZ048-049-062>064-073>077-083>087.  KSZ005>007-017>019.

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NORTHWESTERN COUNTIES.  NEZ039-040-046-
047-060-061-072-082.

09

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Jewell

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Jewell forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.785, -98.218 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Mitchell

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Mitchell forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.393, -98.209 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Osborne

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Osborne forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.350, -98.768 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Phillips

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Phillips forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.785, -99.347 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Rooks

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Rooks forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.350, -99.325 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Smith

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Smith forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.785, -98.785 (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: 5279887, 5279888, 5279889, 5279890, 5279891, 5279892.