Kansas, 2002

Ice Storm in Kansas, January 5, 2002

January 5, 2002 · NWS TOP · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Freezing rain produced icy roads and caused several accidents during the morning hours in parts of northeast and east central Kansas. A deadly accident occurred 14 miles south of Emporia when a male motorist lost control of his car on an icy road.

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
1
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
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 happened

The episode as NWS TOP wrote it up.

Freezing rain produced icy roads and caused several accidents during the morning hours in parts of northeast and east central Kansas. A deadly accident occurred 14 miles south of Emporia when a male motorist lost control of his car on an icy road. The car then hit a retaining wall, a post, and a parked car before sliding into a ditch and overturning. The motorist was pronounced dead at the scene.The incident occurred at 9:25 am.

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 5, 3:02 AM CST, 5 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 3:02 AM CST, 5 hours 43 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
302 AM CST SAT JAN 5 2002

MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE IS PRECIPITATION TYPE AND TIMING.

LATEST WATER VAPOR AT 08Z SHOWED A STG SHORTWAVE ROUNDING THE BASE
OF THE UPPER TROF IN SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO. ANOTHER WAVE ALSO SHOWS UP
ACROSS WEST CENTRAL NEBRASKA. BEST LIFT STILL TO THE SOUTH OF THE
CWA THIS MORNING OVER OKLAHOMA. KTWX RADAR SHOWING RETURNS IN NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA...CALLS TO REPUBLIC COUNTY IN
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS HAD NO PRECIPITATION REACHING THE GROUND.

FORECAST SOUNDINGS AND THICKNESS FORECASTS SUGGEST A MIXTURE OF SNOW
AND RAIN THROUGH THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. COMBINATION OF WAVE IN
NEBRASKA MOVING SOUTHEAST AND PASSAGE OF UPPER TROF BY EARLY
AFTERNOON WILL CUT OFF PRECIPITATION FROM WEST TO EAST THIS MORNING
AND AFTERNOON. AREA WITH BEST CHANCE SEEMS TO BE SOUTHEAST OF THE
TURNPIKE.

TONIGHT SOUNDINGS AND TIME SECTIONS SHOW DRY AIR MOVING IN AND
SHOULD CLEAR SKIES BRIEFLY AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING WAVE FROM
NEBRASKA AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE BY SUNDAY MORNING. THE WAVE ON
SUNDAY WILL BRING A REINFORCING COLD SHOT TO THE CWA AND ALSO A
CHANCE FOR FLURRIES.

TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL BE TRICKY DEPENDING ON THE AMOUNT OF CLOUD
COVER THAT DISSIPATES THIS AFTERNOON IN CENTRAL KANSAS. TEMPERATURES
BEHIND COOL FRONT NOT THAT COLD SO EXPECT TEMPS TO RISE INTO THE
LOWER TO MID 40S IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON.

LOWS TONIGHT WILL ALSO BE A LITTLE TRICKY DEPENDING HOW QUICKLY THE
CLOUDS COME BACK IN...THINK THAT MID TO UPPER 20S STILL POSSIBLE
WITH RADIATIONAL COOLING.

LITTLE CHANGE TO CURRENT EXTENDED FORECAST...AS WARMUP STILL ON TAP
FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY...BRIEF COOL DOWN ON WEDNESDAY...THURSDAY AND
FRIDAY WILL ADJUST TEMPS UP A BIT.

.TOP...NONE.

53

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, Brown

When
January 5, 8:45 AM CST to 11:14 AM CST
Where
Brown forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.827, -95.564 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Dickinson

When
January 5, 8:45 AM CST to 11:14 AM CST
Where
Dickinson forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
38.867, -97.153 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Geary

When
January 5, 8:45 AM CST to 11:14 AM CST
Where
Geary forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.002, -96.752 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Lyon

When
January 5, 8:45 AM CST to 11:14 AM CST
Where
Lyon forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
38.456, -96.153 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Morris

When
January 5, 8:45 AM CST to 11:14 AM CST
Where
Morris forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
38.687, -96.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Nemaha

When
January 5, 8:45 AM CST to 11:14 AM CST
Where
Nemaha forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.784, -96.014 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Pottawatomie

When
January 5, 8:45 AM CST to 11:14 AM CST
Where
Pottawatomie forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.379, -96.342 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Riley

When
January 5, 8:45 AM CST to 11:14 AM CST
Where
Riley forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.297, -96.735 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Wabaunsee

When
January 5, 8:45 AM CST to 11:14 AM CST
Where
Wabaunsee forecast zone
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
38.953, -96.205 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Ice Storm, Lyon2002-01-0571MaleVehicle/Towed TrailerDirect

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

More

Every storm in Kansas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5278979, 5278980, 5278981, 5278982, 5278983, 5278984, 5278985, 5278986, 5278987.