Just days after an ice storm brought one half of an inch to one and a half inches of ice accumulations to portions of northeast Kansas, another potent 500mb low deepened in the southwest United States, and lifted through the central plains Friday the 14th through Saturday the 15th of December. Several homes in cities and rural areas across northeast Kansas were still without power from the ice…
Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS TOP wrote it up.
Just days after an ice storm brought one half of an inch to one and a half inches of ice accumulations to portions of northeast Kansas, another potent 500mb low deepened in the southwest United States, and lifted through the central plains Friday the 14th through Saturday the 15th of December. Several homes in cities and rural areas across northeast Kansas were still without power from the ice storm when the snow began Friday. Emergency shelters re-opened in Nemaha County to assist those without power. The heavier snowfall totals were between 6 and 8 inches across Washington, Clay, and Republic counties. Fifteen to twenty mph winds helped to reduce visibilites even more than in just the band of heaviest snowfall. Residents for the most part heeded the heavy snow warnings that were issued. Few traffic accidents were reported, and road crews were prompt and thorough keeping major traffic arteries clear.
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 Dec 14, 3:00 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 300 PM CST FRI DEC 14 2007 .DISCUSSION... MAIN CONCERN IN THE NEAR TERM IS THE WINTER STORM EXPECTED TO BRING 3-5 INCHES OF SNOW TO LOCATIONS NORTH OF I-70...AND 5-7 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS SOUTH OF THE INTERSTATE. APPROACHING TROUGH CONTINUED TO DIG INTO THE FOUR CORNERS REGION...WHILE DEEP MOISTURE TRANSPORT WAS UNDERWAY FROM THE GULF OUT AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM. LOCAL RADAR REFLECTIVITIES DEPICTED A SWATH OF PRECIPITATION EXTENDING FROM SW KS...TO A HANDFUL OF MIDLEVEL ECHOES IN THE 7K TO 8K RANGE EXTENDING AS FAR EAST AS MANHATTAN KS AT 20Z. MODERATE SNOW WAS FALLING OVER DDC...WHILE MOISTURE WAS NOT YET HITTING THE GROUND MUCH FURTHER EAST...AND INSTEAD BEGINNING TO SATURATE ATTENDANT ATMOSPHERIC COLUMN. TEMPERATURES TODAY CLIMBED A FEW DEGREES ABOVE THE FREEZING POINT...PREDOMINANTLY ACROSS EAST CENTRAL KANSAS...HELPING TO FURTHER MELT ICE FROM THE PAST WEEKENDS WINTER STORM. MAIN CHANGES TO THE NEAR TERM FORECAST INCLUDED AN UPGRADE TO A HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR COUNTIES ALONG AND SOUTH OF I-70. THERE WERE A FEW REASONS FOR DOING SO. FIRST...MOST RECENT MODEL RUNS OF THE NAM HAVE TRENDED THE BRUNT OF AVAILABLE MOISTURE A BIT FURTHER NORTH THAN DEPICTED PREVIOUSLY...FOCUSING ON CENTRAL KANSAS IN THE 06 TO 12Z TIME RANGE. RUC AND SREF HAVE FOLLOWED SUIT. FROM 9Z ONWARD...SECOND WAVE OF ENERGY ROTATES UP AROUND THE TROUGH AXIS AND ALIGNS WITH TAIL END OF LARGE SCALE FORCING...COINCIDENT WITH HINT OF TROWAL FEATURE DEVELOPING ON THE 700MB THETA-E SURFACE SHOWN BY THE SREF AND 14/12 AND 18Z NAM. THEREFORE...EXPECT MOST ROBUST SNOWFALL ACROSS CENTRAL KANSAS BETWEEN 6Z AND 9Z...AND A FEW HOURS LATER ACROSS EAST CENTRAL KANSAS. ALSO...BEST OMEGA THROUGH THE DENDRITIC GROWTH ZONE...JUST BENEATH SOMEWHAT CONVECTIVELY UNSTABLE PARCELS IN THIS TIME FRAME WILL FURTHER ENHANCE SNOWFALL...AND ESTABLISH BANDING ALONG AND SOUTH OF I-70. ATTM...STILL CANNOT PINPOINT EXACT LOCATION OF WHERE BANDING PRECIPITATION WILL SET-UP...BUT BELIEVE AMOUNTS GREATER THAN 6-7 INCHES IN THE WARNED AREA ARE POSSIBLE. SNOW WILL TAPER OFF AS FLURRIES AFTER THE NOON HOUR SATURDAY...AS LARGE SCALE FORCING DIES OFF..AND ONLY THE LOWEST FEW THOUSAND FEET OF THE ATM BENEATH THE DENDRITIC GROWTH ZONE REMAIN SATURATED. SHOW SHOULD BE BE ALL BUT OVER BY 00Z SUNDAY AS MODELS SHOW LARGE SCALE FORCING AND DEEP MOISTURE SHIFTING EAST. HOWEVER WITH THE SLOWING TREND IN THE MODELS...WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME FLURRIES FLY DURING THE EVENING. BIGGER QUESTION FOR SATURDAY NIGHT IS WHETHER STRATUS WILL CLEAR OUT AND ALLOW DENSE FOG TO FORM...OR IF WESTERLY WINDS WILL KEEP THE BOUNDARY LAYER MIXED ENOUGH FOR STRATUS TO HANG IN. NAM FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST BOUNDARY LAYER COULD DECOUPLE ALLOWING THE STRATUS TO REACH THE GROUND. HOWEVER WITH THE SFC RIDGE CENTERED OVER WEST TX...WOULD EXPECT SOME GRADIENT WIND TO PERSIST. AT THIS TIME HAVE FAVORED STRATUS. THIS WILL ALSO HAVE SOME IMPACT ON MIN TEMPS FOR SUNDAY MORNING. THINKING STRATUS WILL LINGER LEANED MORE TOWARDS THE NAM NUMBERS WITH MIDDLE TEENS. IF SKIES CLEAR OUT...SINGLE DIGITS ARE MORE LIKELY WITH FRESH SNOW COVER ON THE GROUND. THE SNOW COVER SHOULD ALSO HOLD MAX TEMPS DOWN BELOW FREEZING FOR SUNDAY EXPECTING A PRETTY GOOD FETCH OF SNOW FOR THE SOUTHWEST SFC WINDS TO HAVE TO TRAVEL OVER. MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY REMAINS DRY AS MODELS INDICATE LITTLE MOISTURE ADVECTION DURING THIS TIME. NEXT UPPER LEVEL TROUGH STILL APPEARS TO MOVE ACROSS THE PLAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. THOUGH THE GFS AND ECMWF HAVE TRENDED SLIGHTLY FASTER AND LESS AMPLIFIED WITH THIS FEATURE. THIS TENDS TO SHIFT THE BETTER MOISTURE ADVECTION EAST INTO MO. HAVE CONTINUE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. MODELS SHOWING SHORTWAVE RIDGING FOR FRIDAY SO KEPT FORECAST DRY. HARD TO SAY HOW LONG THE EFFECTS OF THE SNOW COVER WILL HAVE...BUT SHOW A WARMING TREND WITH HIGHS IN THE MID AND UPPER 30S BY MONDAY. OTHERWISE THERE DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE A BIG PUSH OF WARM AIR DURING NEXT WEEK SO STAYED KEPT HIGHS FOR TUES THROUGH FRIDAY IN THE 40S. && KONOP/WOLTERS .AVIATION... CIGS AND VISBYS TO DROP QUICKLY ONCE SNOW BEGINS TO FALL...PERIODIC -SN COMMENCING AT MHK AFTER 22Z...AND MORE SUSTAINED PRECIPITATION AFTER 00Z...WHILE SN TO START AT TOP/FOE AFTER 00Z. EXPECT EMBEDDED BANDS OF HEAVIER SNOW TO FALL BETWEEN 05 AND 08Z AT MHK AND 06 AND 09Z AT TOP/MHK WITH A BIT OF ELEVATED INSTABILITY EVIDENT ON LOCAL FORECAST SOUNDINGS. POSSIBILITY FOR +SN DURING SOME OF THE MORE ROBUST CONVECTIVE BANDS WITH LIFR CIGS AND VSBY AROUND 1/2SM...BUT CONFIDENCE IN WHERE DISTINCT BANDS WILL SET UP PROHIBITS THE INCLUSION IN TAF ISSUANCE ATTM. && KONOP .TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HEAVY SNOW WARNING THROUGH NOON SATURDAY FOR AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM ABILENE TO TOPEKA. SNOW ADVISORY THROUGH NOON SATURDAY FOR AREAS NORTH OF A LINE FROM ABILENE TO TOPEKA. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 1247 PM CST FRI DEC 14 2007 KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-151900- REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY- POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS- WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON- 1247 PM CST FRI DEC 14 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WINTER STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE AREA BEGINNING THIS AFTERNOON. LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW WILL AFFECT THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA...WITH HEAVIEST AMOUNTS SOUTH OF I-70. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID DAY SATURDAY BEFORE ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST. STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE 3 TO 5 INCH RANGE NORTH OF I-70...WITH 6 INCHES OR MORE POSSIBLE SOUTH OF I-70. ANOTHER WEAK SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE AREA ON THURSDAY WITH LIGHT SNOW OR LIGHT FREEZING RAIN POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SNOWFALL REPORTS ARE REQUESTED FROM ALL SPOTTERS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 heavy snow, 4 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Six to seven inches of snow was reported to have accumulated across the county.
Six to seven inches of snow was reported to have accumulated across the county.
Four to six inches of snow was reported to have accumulated across the county.
Six to seven inches of snow was reported to have accumulated across the county.
Six to eight inches of snow was reported to have accumulated across the county.
Six to seven inches of snow was reported to have accumulated across the county. Fifteen to twnety mile per hour winds and blowing and drifting accumulated and falling snow also reported.
Six to seven inches of snow was reported to have accumulated across the county.
Five to sixes inches of snow was reported to have accumulated across the county.
Around sixes inches of snow was reported to have accumulated across the county. Emergency shelters that had been established after the ice storm were re-opened for residents of the county that were still without power during this winter weather event.
Five to six inches of snow was reported to have accumulated across the county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, December 2007
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: 65208, 65209, 69069, 65207, 65211, 65213, 65216, 69070, 69068, 69072.