A strong upper level storm moved across the northern plains on Monday, January 28th, 2008, tightening up the surface pressure gradient across southwestern Kansas. A small part of DDC’s CWA experienced high winds during the late afternoon and early evening of the 28th.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 DDC wrote it up.
A strong upper level storm moved across the northern plains on Monday, January 28th, 2008, tightening up the surface pressure gradient across southwestern Kansas. A small part of DDC’s CWA experienced high winds during the late afternoon and early evening of the 28th. A 40 mph sustained wind was reported from Hugoton in Stevens County at 1833 CST, with another from the same location at 2033 CST of 45 mph gusting to 55 mph. At Liberal in Seward County, one gust of 60 mph occurred at 1955 CST, with a separate wind report from there of 40 mph gusting to 51 mph at 2115 CST.
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 Dodge City, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 28, 2:48 PM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS 248 PM CST MON JAN 28 2008 .DISCUSSION... DAYS 1-2... 12Z UPPER AIR ANALYSIS HAD A STRONG TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN CONUS, WITH A 140 KT JET ON THE FRONT SIDE OF IT AND 500MB TEMPS DOWN IN THE -30S C OVER THE PAC NW. 500MB CHART ALSO HAD 140 M HEIGHT FALLS OVER THE ROCKIES, AND WV LOOP SHOWS A WEAK LEAD SHORTWAVE EJECTING OUT TOWARDS THE PLAINS. THIS HAS HELPED PUSH THE SFC TROUGH AXIS/WEAK PACIFIC FRONT OUT INTO THE CWA. THE TRUE COLD AIR IS STILL UP OVER MT, WITH 850MB TEMPS IN THE -20S C. LATEST 19Z SFC OBS HAVE THE FRONT STARTING TO ENTER SD, WITH 54 F REPORTED AT RAP, WHILE READINGS AROUND AROUND 11 F IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE STATE AND BELOW ZERO BACK IN MT. THE STRONG WINDS WE HAVE THIS AFTERNOON WILL START TO TAPER OFF FOR A BIT TONIGHT AS THE MAIN SHORTWAVE TROUGH APPROACHES THE PLAINS AND THE SFC TROUGH MOVES EAST OVER KS. THE 12Z GFS AND NAM SEEM TO BE A BIT SLOW ON THE FRONTAL PASSAGE IN COMPARISON TO OBSERVATIONS, WHILE THE ECMWF WAS A BIT FAST. FRONT SHOULD PROBABLY COME BLASTING THROUGH SOMETIME BETWEEN 09 AND 12Z, POSSIBLY A BIT FASTER THAN THE GFS/NAM ARE INDICATING. STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL BE BEHIND THE FRONT, WITH BOTH THE NAM AND RUC SHOWING AREAS OF 25-30KTS. SREF PROBABILITIES ALSO SHOW OVER 40 PERCENT FOR SFC WINDS GREATER THAN 25 KTS. MAY HAVE TO HOLD OFF ON ISSUANCE UNTIL THIS EVENING FOR VTEC COMPLICATIONS, BUT EXPECT THAT A WIND ADVISORY WILL BE NEEDED FOR TOMORROW MORNING BETWEEN 12 AND 18Z. THE MODELS ALL HAVE GOOD DYNAMIC LIFT AS THE UPPER SYSTEM COMES OUT INTO THE PLAINS, AND THE NAM HAS SOME DECENT 700MB FRONTOGENESIS. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW THE LAYER BECOMING MORE SATURATED FOR A BRIEF PERIOD TOMORROW MORNING. HOWEVER, THINK THAT AS FAST AS THE SYSTEM IS MOVING THERE WILL BE A QUICK SHOT AND NOT A LOT OF ACCUMULATION. KEPT THE 20 POPS WE HAD GOING, WITH LESS THAN A HALF AN INCH EXPECTED. THE TROUGH WILL CONTINUE MOVING EASTWARD LATE TUESDAY, WITH FLOW BECOMING MORE ZONAL BETWEEN SYSTEMS TUESDAY NIGHT. THE NEXT TROUGH SHOULD START TO DIG INTO THE WESTERN CONUS ON WEDNESDAY. THE FRONT SHOULD BRING DOWN ARCTIC AIR INTO THE PLAINS, BUT WITH THE PROGRESSIVE NATURE OF THE SYSTEM THAT COLD AIR SHOULD QUICKLY BE SHUNTED EAST. THE SFC HIGH WILL MOVE EAST TUESDAY NIGHT AND LEE TROUGHING WILL RE-DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN PLAINS, WITH QUIET AND DRY WEATHER EXPECTED. AS FOR TEMPERATURES, LOWS TONIGHT WILL STAY UP FOR A WHILE BUT THEN DROP OFF AS THE FRONT COMES THROUGH. CONTINUED WITH READINGS IN THE 20S. LOWERED HIGHS FOR TUESDAY A BIT, PARTICULARLY IN THE NORTHEAST WHERE 850MB TEMPS WILL GET DOWN WELL BELOW ZERO. BEST ARCTIC AIR WILL BE TO OUR NORTHEAST, BUT THE FRONT SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO DROP HIGHS IN THE 30S. CLEARING SKIES AND FAIRLY LIGHT WINDS WILL BE OVER THE AREA FOR TUESDAY NIGHT, AND LOWS SHOULD HAVE LITTLE TROUBLE DROPPING OFF INTO THE TEENS. HIGHS ON WEDNESDAY SHOULD RETURN TO THE 40S AND EVEN AROUND 50 IN THE SOUTH AS SOUTHERLY WINDS AND SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT HELP BRING 850MB TEMPS BACK UP ABOVE ZERO C. DAYS 3-7... A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WERE LINING UP FROM THE WESTERN CONUS INTO THE NORTHERN PACIFIC EARLIER TODAY. OUR NEXT MORE SIGNIFICANT S/W TROF IS CURRENTLY PROGGED BY ALL THE MODELS TO MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST CONUS INTO NM...THEN WEST TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA BY EARLY THURSDAY. AS IT MOVES INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS A COLD FRONT WILL CROSS WESTERN KS LATE WED. BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT MOISTURE DOES RETURN NORTHWARD ACROSS TX INTO OK BUT IT APPEARS THE AREA WHO WILL HAVE THE BETTER MOISTURE RETURN WILL BE CONFINED TO OUR FAR E/SE. MOISTURE RETURN ALONG WITH 85H-7H FGEN DEVELOPING JUST NORTHWEST OF OUR SFC LOW SUPPORTS AT LEAST KEEPING CHC POPS GOING IN THE EAST. DID HOWEVER RAISE CHC POPS TO LIKELY POPS ACROSS OUR FAR SE CWA LATE WED NIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY GIVEN THE LIFT PROGGED FROM THE FGEN AND APPROACHING VORT LOBE. LEFT SLT CHC POPS GOING IN THE WEST GIVEN THE MEAN RH AND UPSLOPE FLOW BUT AM NOT TOO OPTIMISTIC WEST OF GCK AT THIS TIME. AFTER THIS SYSTEM EXITS THE AREA TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO REBOUND ONCE AGAIN. TEMPS SHOULD WARM QUICKLY BACK INTO THE 40S WITH SOME 50S POSSIBLE OVER THE WEEKEND BEFORE OUR NEXT SYSTEM APPROACHES FROM THE SOUTHWEST. MODELS THIS TIME ARE STRUGGLING WITH THE TRACK AND TIMING BUT ALL DO SEEM TO HINT AT A DECENT PERIOD OF TIME FOR MOISTURE TO RETURN TO SOUTHWEST KANSAS. AS A RESULT DID BUMP UP TEMPS SUNDAY NIGHT AS 30 TO 40F DEWPTS RETURN TO THE AREA AND WINDS REMAIN UP DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS IN RESPONSE TO THE FALLING PRESSURES OVER THE WESTERN HIGH PLAINS. ALSO INSERTED SOME SMALL POPS IN ON MONDAY BUT TIMING REMAINS AN ISSUE FOR PCPN THAT FAR OUT. -BURGERT && .AVIATION... STRONG GUSTY SW WINDS WILL BEGIN TO SUBSIDE TOWARDS SUNSET BUT SHOULD REMAIN IN THE 15 TO 20 MPH RANGE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. MAIN CHALLENGE TOMORROW MORNING WILL BE TIMING OF THE COLD FRONT. MODELS DIFFERING ON TIMING WITH THE GFS SEEMING MORE OF A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE SLOWER NAM AND FASTER ECMWF. CONFIDENCE NOT HIGH EITHER WAY SO WILL STAY CLOSE TO THE GFS ON TIMING OF FROPA. TIGHT GRADIENT ONCE AGAIN DEVELOPS OVER SW KS AFTER FROPA SO LOOK FOR ANOTHER VERY WINDY DAY AS NW WINDS ONCE AGAIN INCREASE DURING THE LATE MORNING. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DDC 27 37 17 47 / 0 20 0 0 GCK 24 37 16 46 / 0 20 0 0 EHA 27 42 19 51 / 0 0 0 0 LBL 27 39 19 51 / 0 20 0 0 HYS 24 31 13 42 / 0 20 0 0 P28 33 39 19 49 / 0 20 0 10 && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ THIS AFTERNOON FOR KSZ030-043>045-061>064-074>078-084>088. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ THIS AFTERNOON FOR KSZ043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090. && FN26/18/18
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS 501 AM CST MON JAN 28 2008 KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-291100- TREGO-ELLIS-SCOTT-LANE-NESS-RUSH-HAMILTON-KEARNY-FINNEY-HODGEMAN- PAWNEE-STAFFORD-STANTON-GRANT-HASKELL-GRAY-FORD-EDWARDS-KIOWA- PRATT-MORTON-STEVENS-SEWARD-MEADE-CLARK-COMANCHE-BARBER- 501 AM CST MON JAN 28 2008 /401 AM MST MON JAN 28 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS...SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS...SOUTHWEST KANSAS AND WEST CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL OCCUR TODAY ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS. THE WINDY CONDITIONS WILL MAKE TRAVEL DIFFICULT...ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE IN HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN POSTED TODAY FOR THE AREA ALONG AND SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 96. THE WINDY CONDITIONS...COMBINED WITH HUMIDITY LEVELS FALLING TO AROUND 15 PERCENT OR LESS DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS...WILL RESULT IN AN INCREASED THREAT FOR WILDFIRES. A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEE POSTED FOR THIS AFTERNOON FOR AREAS ALONG AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 283. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO MOVE OUT OF THE WESTERN STATES INTO THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PLAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR LIGHT SNOW TO SOUTHWEST KANSAS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. && FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBPAGE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/DDC GERARD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A sustained 40 mph wind was reported in Hugoton at 1630 CST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, January 2008
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: 79012, 79006.