On Thursday, February 25th, 2010, a cold front marched southeast through western Kansas, and produced a little snow over a small section of southwestern Kansas. A narrow band of snow 3 to 5 inches in depth and from 5 to 15 miles wide, fell from near Liberal in Seward County northeastward to near Dodge City in Ford County.
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.
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.
On Thursday, February 25th, 2010, a cold front marched southeast through western Kansas, and produced a little snow over a small section of southwestern Kansas. A narrow band of snow 3 to 5 inches in depth and from 5 to 15 miles wide, fell from near Liberal in Seward County northeastward to near Dodge City in Ford County. A band of snow around 3 inches in depth and only 5 to 10 miles wide surrounded the 3 to 5 inch band. Two inches or less fell south a line from Elkhart to Jetmore, and west of a line from Kinsley to Coldwater.
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 Feb 25, 2:45 AM CST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS 245 AM CST THU FEB 25 2010 .DISCUSSION... DAYS 1-2... ATTENTION IN THE SHORT TERM IS ON POTENTIAL FOR WINTER PRECIP EVENT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LATEST UA ANALYSIS SHOWS A CONTINUED ACTIVE SOUTHERN BRANCH OF THE JET WHICH IS DRAPED, MORE OR LESS ZONALLY, ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE CONUS. A WEAK RIDGE IS EVIDENT FROM H3 TO H5 OVER THE CNTRL/SRN ROCKIES AND BEGINNING TO EMERGE INTO THE PLAINS ATM WHILE A HUGE UPR LOW OVER THE GREAT LAKES ENCOMPASSES MUCH OF THE ERN 1/3 OF THE CONUS. A H5 SHORTWAVE WITH BROAD 50DM HEIGHT FALLS HAS JUST PASSED THE 4-CORNERS AREA AND ASSOCIATED LOW PRESSURE IS ALSO EVIDENT AT H7. REASONABLY STRONG UPPER TO MID LEVEL FLOW ACROSS THE ROCKIES HAS INDUCED A LEE SFC TROF OVER ERN CO. SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS A STATIONARY BOUNDARY STRETCHING FROM CNTRL OK ACROSS FAR SW KANSAS INTO THE LEE CYCLONE OVER ERN CO WITH A COLD CANADIAN HIGH POSITIONED OVER THE UPPER PLAINS AND MIDWEST. BOTH THE NAM AND GFS ARE QUITE CONSISTENT IN SHOWING A SMALL SCALE BUT POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER SYSTEM DEVELOPING OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE WAVE ALOFT IS EXPECTED TO EMERGE FROM THE ROCKIES THIS MORNING AND CUTOFF OVER THE OK/FAR N TX PANHANDLES BY THIS AFTERNOON AND SLOWLY EDGE EAST THROUGH THE EVENING. THE LEE CYCLONE WILL GRADUALLY BE ABSORBED INTO A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING SFC CYCLONE OVER N TX/W OK, WHICH TRACKS INTO W-CNTRL OK BY THIS EVENING. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW THAT THE MID LEVELS START OUT FAIRLY WARM (+3 TO +5C) AND DRY IN THE MORNING BUT DYNAMIC PROCESSES HAVE THE COLUMN SUFFICIENTLY COOLED AND MOISTENED BY 21Z FOR SNOW TO BEGIN REACHING THE GROUND. MODEL CROSS SECTIONS SHOW IMPRESSIVE UPWARD MOTION THROUGH THE DENDTRITIC LAYER FROM MID AFTERNOON THROUGH THE EVENING FROM ROUGHLY DODGE SOUTHEAST. THERE IS ALSO REASONABLE DEFORMATION NORTH OF THE LOW TRACK ACROSS SW KS. THE KICKER IS REALLY A LACK OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WITH DEWPTS NO HIGHER THAN THE U20S AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE. REGARDING QPF, THE NAM WOULD HAVE A SWATH OF NEARLY 8 INCHES OF SNOW IN THE DEFORMATION ZONE FROM ROUGHLY HUGOTON TO JUST NORTH OF DODGE CITY. I CAN'T SEE WHERE IT GETS THE MOISTURE FOR THAT AND THE NAM HAS SHOWN A PROPENSITY FOR OVERESTIMATING SNOW THIS SEASON, ESPECIALLY WRT TO MESOSCALE BANDING. THE GFS HAS A MORE REASONABLE LOOKING 2-4 INCH SWATH ACROSS OUR SRN HALF BUT THE EC/UKMET/GEM ARE MUCH DRIER. AM LEANING TOWARD A COMPROMISE WITH 1-3 INCHES FROM ROUGHLY DODGE CITY SOUTH AND LITTLE TO NOTHING NORTH OF DODGE CITY. WITH THIS IN MIND AM PLANNING A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW (WIND DOES NOT LOOK TO BE A PROBLEM) FOR MUCH OF MY FA SOUTH OF HWY 50 FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HAVE EXCLUDED MY FAR WEST COUNTIES SINCE THE STORM DOESN'T REALLY GET IT'S ACT TOGETHER UNTIL ITS FURTHER EAST. GIVEN THE NATURE AND TRAJECTORY OF THIS STORM WARNING TYPE SNOWFALLS ARE NOT INCONCEIVABLE BUT THAT WILL DEPEND ON IF/WHERE THE DEFORMATION SETS UP AND HOW LONG IT RESIDES. I DONT THINK ITS REASONABLE TO TRY TO GUESS AT THAT RIGHT NOW AND WHILE IT WONT PROVIDE MUCH LEAD TIME, THAT WILL HAVE TO BE A DECISION MADE WHEN WE SEE THE WHITES OF ITS EYES. THE SYSTEM MOVES QUICKLY AWAY TONIGHT AND THEN THE DRY WEATHER RESUMES AS HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT BUILDS OVER THE ROCKIES AND DRY NW FLOW PREDOMINATES OVER THE PLAINS. TEMPS FOR FRI WILL BE DIFFICULT AND DEPENDANT ON SNOW COVER FROM OUR QUICK HITTING STORM EARLY IN THE FORECAST PERIOD. HAVE OPTED NOT TO CHANGE THE GOING TEMP FORECAST. -WRIGHT DAYS 3-7... THE PERIOD SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY WAS ASSESSED THIS SHIFT...AND BY AND LARGE THE INHERITED FORECAST APPEARS TO BE IN FAIRLY GOOD SHAPE. SATURDAY...A SHARP RIDGE AXIS WILL BE POSITIONED ACROSS THE HIGH PLAINS FROM THE WESTERN DAKOTAS THROUGH WEST TEXAS IN BETWEEN TWO FORMIDABLE LONGWAVE TROUGHS. THE NEXT BIG PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BE ENTERING THE DESERT SOUTHWEST REGION LATE IN THE UPCOMING WEEKEND WHICH WILL HAVE SENSIBLE WEATHER IMPACTS ACROSS THE DDC FA BY LATE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. SINCE THE WEEKEND DESERT SOUTHWEST STORM WILL BE ENTERING IN A MEAGER LOW LEVEL BAROCLINIC ENVIRONMENT (NOT TO MENTION FAIRLY PALTRY LOW LEVEL MOISTURE UNTIL ITS ALMOST TOO LATE)...THE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS FOR SOUTHWEST KANSAS WILL MOST LIKELY BE ON THE LIGHT SIDE FOR THE SUNDAY-MONDAY TIME FRAME. WILL MAINTAIN THE ~ 40 POP FORECAST SINCE IT STILL APPEARS THERE IS A REASONABLE CHANCE AT AT LEAST SOME PRECIPITATION WITH THIS EVENT. THE OTHER QUESTION WILL BE PRECIPITATION TYPE. NOW THAT WE TRANSITIONING CLOSER TO SPRING...ANY SYSTEM THAT COMES ACROSS WITHOUT ANY PRE-EXISTING ARCTIC AIRMASS NEARBY OR IMMEDIATELY UPSTREAM...THEN PRECIP TYPE WILL PROBABLY BE OF THE NON-WINTRY VARIETY. GFS AND ECMWF MODEL H85 TEMPS SUNDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY IN THE 0C TO -2C WOULD SUGGEST EITHER A VERY CHILLY RAIN OR A VERY WET SNOW...BUT AT THIS POINT NOTHING THAT WOULD LIKELY CAUSE ANY SIGNIFICANT HAZARD. TEMPERATURE FORECAST SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY LOOKS PRETTY GOOD AS WELL...SATURDAY HIGHS SHOULD REACH LOWER TO MID 50S IN THE RIDGE AXIS WITH H85 TEMPS IN THE +4 TO +7C RANGE. INCREASING CLOUDS SUNDAY WILL LIKELY KEEP TEMPERATURES DOWN...HOWEVER THINK THAT GOING FORECAST MAY BE A LITTLE BIT CONSERVATIVE ON HIGHS SUNDAY ESPECIALLY IF THE SLOWER ECMWF SOLUTION PANS OUT. THE GFS IS FASTER WITH THE WAVE AND BEGINS LIGHT PRECIPITATION EVENT DURING THE MIDDAY/AFTERNOON HOURS SUNDAY...AND THINK THIS MAY BE A LITTLE TOO FAST. THE CANADIAN GEM SOLUTION IS MORE OF A COMPROMISE OF THE ECMWF AND GFS WHICH IS PROBABLY THE BEST FORECAST AT THIS POINT (H5 LOW CENTER ALONG NM-TX PANHANDLE BORDER VALID MAR01/00Z MONDAY). && .AVIATION... LOW LEVEL UPSLOPE FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE TOWARD 12Z WITH LOW STRATUS DEVELOPING AFTER DAYBREAK...ESPECIALLY KGCK. SUN WILL HELP SCATTER OUT A THIN LOW LEVEL CLOUD DECK OUT WEST...HOWEVER 2000 TO 4000 FOOT CEILING WILL BEGIN TO FILL IN BY MIDDAY ACROSS MOST OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS AS A CYCLONE TAKES SHAPE ACROSS THE EASTERN TX/OK PANHANDLES WITH SOME LIGHT SNOW DEVELOPING LATE IN THE DAY...PERHAPS AS FAR NORTH AT KGCK AND KDDC TERMINALS AROUND 21Z OR MORE LIKELY AROUND 00Z. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DDC 32 24 42 24 / 70 80 10 0 GCK 32 24 45 23 / 60 60 0 0 EHA 37 26 47 23 / 50 60 0 0 LBL 36 25 46 24 / 70 80 0 0 HYS 32 21 43 23 / 30 30 10 0 P28 37 28 40 26 / 70 80 20 0 && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT FOR KSZ076>078-080-081-085>090. && FN34/25/25
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS 430 AM CST WED FEB 24 2010 KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-251100- 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- 430 AM CST WED FEB 24 2010 /330 AM MST WED FEB 24 2010/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL...SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF RAIN OR SNOW ON THURSDAY. AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS PRIMARILY SNOW WILL DEVELOP DURING THE DAY ALONG AND NORTHWEST OF A LINE EXTENDING FROM NEAR LARNED TO DODGE CITY TO LIBERAL. SOUTHEAST OF THIS LINE RAIN OR SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AFTERNOON WITH A CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW LIKELY BY EARLY THURSDAY NIGHT. SNOWFALL THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT IS EXPECTED TO BE LIGHT AND AVERAGE LESS THAN ONE INCH. THE EXCEPTION WILL BE EAST OF A LINE EXTENDING FROM HAYS TO GREENSBURG TO NEAR ASHLAND WHERE AROUND ONE INCH WILL BE POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SNOW ENDS. ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR RAIN OR SNOW WILL BE SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. IT IS STILL TOO EARLY TO TELL EXACTLY HOW MUCH RAIN OR SNOW WILL FALL FROM THIS NEXT SYSTEM HOWEVER SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATING SNOW IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBPAGE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/DDC
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall of 4 inches was reported 17 miles southwest of Meade.
Snowfall of 4.5 inches was reported 10 miles southeast of Hayne.
Snowfall of 4.4 inches was reported 4 miles southwest of Meade State Park.
Snowfall of 4 inches was reported in Bucklin.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, February 2010
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: 218148, 218149, 218150, 218151.