High Wind in Kansas, October 22 to 23, 2008

Name: High Wind in Kansas, October 22 to 23, 2008
Start: 2008-10-22T13:00
End: 2008-10-23T03:00
Location: Kansas

October 22 to 23, 2008 · NWS GLD · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A strong low pressure system over central Kansas combined with a strong high over Montana to produce an extremely tight surface pressure gradient over the Tri-State region. Northwest winds gusting 45 to 55 mph were common during the day with a number of reports near 60 mph.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: 4

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 GLD wrote it up.

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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 22, 10:40 AM MST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 22, 10:40 AM MST, 2 hours 20 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 22, 10:11 AM MST, 2 hours 49 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1111 AM MDT WED OCT 22 2008

COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-231200-
YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON-
SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA-
DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW-
1111 AM MDT WED OCT 22 2008 /1211 PM CDT WED OCT 22 2008/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST
NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

VERY STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS CONTINUE TO SLOWLY INCREASE IN SPEED AND
BY EARLY TO MID AFTERNOON AVERAGE OF 35 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO
AROUND 65 MPH. A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE TRI-
STATE AREA UNTIL 6 PM MDT (7 PM CDT).

LIGHT RAIN CONTINUES ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE TRI-STATE AREA
AND SHOULD CONTINUE FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. AS THE STORM SYSTEM
STARTS TO SLOWLY RETROGRADE TO THE WEST TONIGHT PRECIPITATION WILL
ALSO SPREAD WESTWARD. COLDER AIR WILL GRADUALLY CHANGE ANY
RAINFALL TO SNOWFALL BEFORE MIDNIGHT. THE SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT
TIMES TONIGHT AND WITH NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTING OVER 40 MPH PRODUCE
SHARPLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES DOWN TO ONE QUARTER MILE WITH
WHITEOUT CONDITIONS.

A BLIZZARD WARNING HAS BEEN POSTED FOR MOST OF NORTHWEST KANSAS
AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. TRAVEL
WILL BE HAZARDOUS DUE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR EASTERN COLORADO
AND WICHITA AND GREELEY COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST KANSAS WHERE
SNOWFALL WILL BE LIGHTER.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

SNOW WILL GRADUALLY TAPER OFF BY THURSDAY EVENING ACROSS THE TRI-
STATE AREA BUT TRAVEL WILL REMAIN HAZARDOUS DUE TO DRIFTS AND ICY
AND SNOW PACKED ROADS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. SNOWFALL
REPORTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

DDT

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 22, 11:30 AM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Oct 22, 11:42 AM MST, 1 hour 18 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Oct 22, 11:44 AM MST, 1 hour 16 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Oct 22, 11:55 AM MST, 1 hour 5 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Oct 22, 12:14 PM MST, 46 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Sherman

When: October 22, 1:00 PM MST to October 23, 3:00 AM MST
Where: Sherman forecast zone
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 39.351, -101.720 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Norton

When: October 22, 2:45 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Norton forecast zone
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 39.784, -99.903 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Graham

When: October 22, 4:30 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Graham forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 39.350, -99.883 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Logan

When: October 22, 9:00 PM CST to October 23, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Logan forecast zone
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 38.917, -101.148 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kansas in 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, October 2008

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 134675, 134674, 134676, 134677.