A significant winter storm brought a combination freezing drizzle, freezing rain, sleet and snow to extreme southeast Kansas January 26 and 27, 2009. Freezing drizzle and light freezing rain developed at the onset of the event.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 SGF wrote it up.
A significant winter storm brought a combination freezing drizzle, freezing rain, sleet and snow to extreme southeast Kansas January 26 and 27, 2009. Freezing drizzle and light freezing rain developed at the onset of the event. While freezing rain accretion was light it did result in multiple traffic accidents. The wintry precipitation transitioned to sleet then snow during the event. Sleet accumulations up to 2 inches were followed by 2 to 4 inches of snow.
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 Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 26, 11:22 AM CST, 2 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
1122 AM CST MON JAN 26 2009
...UPDATE TO AVIATION...
.DISCUSSION...
FYI...KSGF WILL BE DOING A 18Z UPPER AIR OBSERVATION.
EXTENDED FORECAST...FOR THE EXTENDED FORECAST PERIODS STARTING
12Z WED THROUGH MONDAY...VERY COLD TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO
START THE PERIOD...ESPECIALLY IF THE EXPECTED SNOW/SLEET/ICE
ACCUMULATION IS REALIZED. SINGLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES...POSSIBLY
NEAR ZERO DEG F...WILL BE POSSIBLE WED MORNING IF GOOD RADIATIONAL
COOLING CAN BE REALIZED. THE 00Z RUN OF THE ECMWF LAGS THE UPPER
TROUGH PASSAGE AND CLOUD COVER WITH THE WINTER STORM SYSTEM VERSUS
THE GFS...SO NOT READY TO REALLY DROP THE BOTTOM OF THE
TEMPERATURES YET. BUT FOR LATER PERIODS...HAVE UNDERCUT MAX/MIN
GFSX MOS GUIDANCE THROUGH EARLY SAT.
ANOTHER SHORTWAVE WILL DROP SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE REGION THU WITH
LITTLE SENSIBLE WEATHER...BUT THEN AN A FLATTENING UPPER LEVEL RIDGE
WILL BUILD INTO THE AREA OVER THE EARLY PORTION OF THE WEEKEND
WITH MODIFYING SFC TEMPERATURES SAT. THE OVERALL UPPER FLOW
BECOMES SOMEWHAT MORE DEAMPLIFIED/PROGRESSIVE WITH ANOTHER
SHORTWAVE AND ASSOCIATED SFC COLD FRONT PASSAGE SUNDAY. CANT RULE
OUT SOME LIGHT PRECIP/RAIN...ESPECIALLY OVER THE EASTERN CWFA
LATE SUNDAY/SUNDAY NIGHT...BUT NOT SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH TO INCLUDE IN THE
FORECAST ATTM. THE MAIN BRUNT OF THE COLD AIR WITH THE FROPA WILL
OVER THE GREAT LAKES/UPPER MIDWEST REGION. DSA
&&
.AVIATION...
FOR THE 1800 UTC KSGF/KJLN TAFS VFR CEILINGS WILL DETERIORATE LATE
THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING AS LOWER LEVELS SATURATE IN
ADVANCE OF AN APPROACHING WINTER STORM. A PROLONGED PERIOD OF
IFR/LIFR CEILINGS IS EXPECTED TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. VISIBILITY WILL
VARY DEPENDING ON PRECIP TYPE AND INTENSITY...BUT IN GENERAL WILL
SEE A MIX OF SLEET/INTERMITTENT FREEZING RAIN...FREEZING
DRIZZLE...AND SNOW. THE HEAVIER PRECIP WILL OCCUR LATE THIS
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. DSA
&&
.SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MO...ICE STORM WARNING FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO MIDNIGHT CST
TUESDAY NIGHT FOR MOZ095>098-101>106.
WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM CST
TUESDAY FOR MOZ068>071-077>083-088>094.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM CST
TUESDAY FOR MOZ055>058-066-067.
KS...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM CST
TUESDAY FOR KSZ097-101.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM CST
TUESDAY FOR KSZ073.
&&HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 1242 PM CST MON JAN 26 2009 KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-271845- BOURBON-CRAWFORD-CHEROKEE-BENTON-MORGAN-MILLER-MARIES-VERNON- ST. CLAIR-HICKORY-CAMDEN-PULASKI-PHELPS-BARTON-CEDAR-POLK-DALLAS- LACLEDE-TEXAS-DENT-JASPER-DADE-GREENE-WEBSTER-WRIGHT-NEWTON- LAWRENCE-CHRISTIAN-DOUGLAS-HOWELL-SHANNON-MCDONALD-BARRY-STONE- TANEY-OZARK-OREGON- 1242 PM CST MON JAN 26 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. PERIODS OF SLEET...SNOW...AND FREEZING RAIN WILL OCCUR ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND THE MISSOURI OZARKS. THE WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL SPREAD FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. PERIODS OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL THEN CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT. SOME OF THE PRECIPITATION MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY ACROSS SOUTHERN MISSOURI WHERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF TUESDAY BEFORE ENDING OVER MOST AREAS BY TUESDAY EVENING. A SIGNIFICANT ICE STORM IS LIKELY FOR FAR SOUTHERN MISSOURI... MAINLY FOR AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM ANDERSON UP TO EMINENCE. THIS AREA WILL EXPERIENCE HEAVIER AMOUNTS OF FREEZING RAIN...WITH STORM TOTAL ICE ACCUMULATIONS UP TO ONE INCH. FOR AREAS NORTH OF A LINE FROM ANDERSON TO EMINENCE...MAINLY SLEET AND SNOW ARE EXPECTED WITH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS RANGING FROM ONE TO THREE INCHES. AREAS NORTH OF A PITTSBURG KANSAS TO SALEM MISSOURI LINE WILL LIKELY SEE MORE SNOW WITH THIS EVENT...WITH 3 TO 5 INCHES EXPECTED. PLEASE REFER TO THE ICE STORM WARNING...WINTER STORM WARNING AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY STATEMENTS FOR FURTHER DETAILS REGARDING THIS WINTER STORM. AREA INTERESTS ARE URGED TO MONITOR UPDATED FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPRINGFIELD MISSOURI. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE IN GRAPHICAL FORMAT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/SGF(ALL LOWERCASE) CLAYCOMB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A significant accumulation of a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow resulted in treacherous travel conditions. Ice accretion of near one quarter inch or less was followed by 2 to 4 inches of sleet and snow.
A significant accumulation of a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow resulted in treacherous travel conditions. Ice accretion of near one quarter inch or less was followed by 2 to 4 inches of sleet and snow.
A significant accumulation of a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow resulted in treacherous travel conditions. Ice accretion of near one quarter inch or less was followed by 2 to 4 inches of sleet and snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, January 2009
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: 146197, 146198, 146199.