Winter was slow to loosen its grip on North Central Kansas in 2013, as one of the top-5 coldest months of April on record featured a late-season snowfall of 1-4 inches that mainly fell between the late evening of Monday the 22nd and sunrise on Tuesday the 23rd. Although flurries or very light accumulating snow continued into the daytime hours for parts of the six-county area, the bulk of this…
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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 GID wrote it up.
Winter was slow to loosen its grip on North Central Kansas in 2013, as one of the top-5 coldest months of April on record featured a late-season snowfall of 1-4 inches that mainly fell between the late evening of Monday the 22nd and sunrise on Tuesday the 23rd. Although flurries or very light accumulating snow continued into the daytime hours for parts of the six-county area, the bulk of this event occurred overnight. The overall-highest accumulations fell under east-west oriented bands that targeted Rooks, Osborne and Mitchell counties, where NWS cooperative observers and CoCoRaHS observers reported amounts as high as 4 at Natoma and near Covert, 3.5 ten miles south of Alton, 3.4 four miles west-northwest of Plainville and 3 five miles south-southwest of Scottsville. Accompanying this primarily nocturnal snow event was a sustained north wind of 15-25 MPH with occasional higher gusts in the wake of a sharp cold front. Temperature-wise, readings hovered around 30 degrees as snow accumulated. Unseasonably cold readings persisted right on through the day of the 23rd, as most of North Central Kansas only attained highs in the mid-upper 30s. However, this snow did not stick around for long, as readings quickly rebounded to around 60 degrees the following day.
In the mid and upper levels, forcing was instigated by a pronounced east-west zone of mid level frontogenesis residing underneath a stout upper level jet extending eastward from a large-scale, positively-tilted trough centered along an axis from south central Canada to the Central Rockies. At the surface, overnight analysis confirmed that North Central Kansas was positioned well north of a strong cold front aligned from west Texas to western Illinois, with local temperatures hovering around 30 degrees.
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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 22, 8:07 PM CST, 53 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 907 PM CDT MON APR 22 2013 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 843 PM CDT MON APR 22 2013 UPDATED THE FORECAST EARLIER TO UPDATE THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN THE SOUTH...FOR ONE THING. STRESSED THAT MOST OF THE SNOW WILL FALL OVERNIGHT. ALSO SHARPENED THE GRADIENT AND INCREASED CHANCES IN THE FAR SOUTH WHILE REMOVING CHANCES OF SNOW IN THE TRI-CITIES AND NORTHWARD. ALSO TOOK OUT FREEZING DRIZZLE THIS EVENING AS THERE SEEMS TO BE SUBSIDENCE INHIBITING THIS OCCURRENCE. && .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY) ISSUED AT 337 PM CDT MON APR 22 2013 BEEN A WET...COLD...DREARY AND WINDY AFTERNOON ACROSS THE CWA...THANKS TO A MID LEVEL DISTURBANCE CURRENTLY SHIFTING ACROSS THE REGION AND ANOTHER MID/UPPER LEVEL TROUGH SET UP OVER THE NRN ROCKIES AND DAKOTAS. THE PRIMARY AREA OF PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN BOOKING IT EAST OVER THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS...AND CURRENTLY IS MOST IMPACTING THE ERN COUPLE ROWS OF COUNTIES IN OUR CWA. AT THE SURFACE...THE COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO PUSH SOUTH...WITH THE ENTIRE CWA NOW SEEING N/NERLY WINDS. ITS BEEN A BIT OF A RACE THROUGH THE DAY TO SEE WHICH WOULD HAPPEN FIRST...THE COLDER AIR PUSHING FURTHER SOUTH OR THE PRECIPITATION SHIFTING EAST OF THE CWA. FOR MOST OF THE CWA...THE PRECIPITATION HAS MOVED OUT FASTER THAN THE COLDER AIR HAS MOVED IN...KEEPING IT PRIMARILY IN THE FORM OF LIQUID. THE MAIN EXCEPTION TO THIS WAS ACROSS THE NRN CWA...ESP FOR LOCATIONS NORTH OF A LITCHFIELD TO ST PAUL TO FULLERTON LINE...WHICH HAD REPORTS OF SNOWFALL ARND 2 INCHES /GIVE OR TAKE A BIT ON EITHER SIDE/. FORECAST FOR THIS EVENING/TONIGHT DRIVEN BY THE IMPACT OF THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH...WHICH WILL CONTINUE PUSHING E/SE THROUGH THE PLAINS. OVERALL...HASNT BEEN ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE LINE OF THINKING. WHILE THE BRUNT OF THE ACTIVITY IS COMING TO AN END FOR MOST OF SC NEB /SOME LIGHT PRECIP AND PERHAPS SOME VERY LIGHT FZDZ IS STILL POSSIBLE/...FOCUS WILL TURN TO OUR NC KS COUNTIES. AS THE TROUGH MOVES IN...EXPECTING TO SEE INCREASED FRONTOGENETICAL LIFT...WITH TEMPERATURES COLD ENOUGH TO ALLOW FOR SNOW ACCUMULATION. AS FAR AS HEADLINES GO...WILL KEEP THINGS AS IS. WINDS WILL REMAIN GUSTY...AND EXPECT THAT SOME LOCATIONS WILL FLIRT WITH ADVISORY CRITERIA...BUT CONFIDENCE IN IT BETWEEN WIDESPREAD AND SOMETHING OTHER THAN A BRIEF PERIOD IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO HOIST AN ADV. THOUGHT ABOUT EXPANDING THE WINTER WEATHER ADV ANOTHER ROW NORTH IN NC KS...BUT THERE IS PRETTY GOOD SUPPORT FROM MODELS KEEPING THE STRONGER BAND ALONG/SOUTH OF THE COUNTIES ALREADY INCLUDED IN THE ADV. STILL LOOKING AT THE POTENTIAL FOR 2 TO 3 INCHES...BUT WILL ADMIT THAT IF A GOOD BAND LINGERS LONG ENOUGH...LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE. INTO TOMORROW...PRECIPITATION CHANCES LINGER DURING THE MORNING HOURS...WITH DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED FOR THE AFTERNOON. IT WILL BE A GUSTY START TO THE DAY...BUT WINDS SHOULD GRADUALLY DIMINISH SOME...ESP DURING THE AFTERNOON...AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE CONTINUES TO BUILD INTO THE REGION FROM THE WEST. SHOULD START TO SEE MORE IN THE WAY OF SUN...FROM NW TO SE...BUT UNFORTUNATLY THATS NOT GOING TO HELP OVERCOME THE COLDER AIR MASS IN PLACE. HIGH TEMPERATURES STILL LOOKING TO BE TOPPING OUT IN THE UPPER 30S/LOWER 40S...20 TO 30 DEGREES BELOW AVG FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. .LONG TERM...(TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY) ISSUED AT 337 PM CDT MON APR 22 2013 GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THE LONG-TERM FORECAST PERIOD WILL START OFF WITH A LONGWAVE TROUGH OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL CONUS. THE NAM...OPERATIONAL GFS...EC...AND SREF-MEAN ALL SUGGEST A MID LEVEL SHORT WAVE...EMBEDDED WITHIN THE LONGWAVE TROUGH...WILL MOVE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND MISSOURI RIVER VALLEY DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY. THE PRIMARY AXIS OF OMEGA IN ASSOCIATION WITH THIS SHORT WAVE APPEARS AS THOUGH IT WILL REMAIN NORTHEAST OF OUR AREA...BUT THE EXTREME SOUTH/SOUTHWESTERN PERIPHERY OF THE MID LEVEL TROUGH AXIS MAY CLIP NORTHEASTERN PORTIONS OF OUR CWA WHICH MAY IN TURN PROVIDE ENOUGH OMEGA FOR PRECIPITATION PRODUCTION. EVEN IF THAT IS REALIZED HOWEVER...FORECAST PROXIMITY SOUNDINGS FROM ACROSS THE AREA...PER THE NAM AND OPERATIONAL GFS...SUGGEST THE LOWER TROPOSPHERE WILL REMAIN VERY DRY THUS MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR PRECIPITATION TO BE REALIZED AT THE SURFACE. GIVEN ALL THIS...WENT AHEAD AND PULLED POPS FROM THE FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY...BUT DID KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SPRINKLES GOING FOR NOW. ONCE THE MID LEVEL SHORT WAVE CLEARS THE AREA TO THE EAST OF THE PLAINS...AN OVERALL LACK IN KINEMATIC FORCING SHOULD PRESENT DRY CONDITIONS TO THE AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. HEADING INTO THURSDAY NIGHT...THE EC AND OPERATIONAL GFS SUGGEST AN 850MB JET STREAK...SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 30KTS AND 45KTS...WILL TRANSLATE FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS KANSAS AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN NEBRASKA...WITH THE NOSE OF THIS LOW LEVEL JET MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF OUR CWA. LOW LEVEL THERMAL ADVECTION ALONG THE AXIS OF THIS LOW LEVEL JET APPEARS AS THOUGH IT WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR PRECIPITATION PRODUCTION ACROSS SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF OUR AREA...AND THERE MAY BE ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FLUX FOR INCREASING POTENTIAL INSTABILITY ACROSS THE SAME AREA. ALLBLEND PROVIDED 20-30% POPS FOR LOCATIONS GENERALLY SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 6 AND GIVEN THE POTENTIAL SETUP THESE POPS SEEMED REASONABLE AND WERE LEFT UNCHANGED. WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY DUE TO INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...ALSO WENT AHEAD WITH ISOLATED THUNDER IN THE FORECAST. THERE IS NOTHING WHICH SUGGESTS POTENTIAL INSTABILITY WILL BE ANY GREATER THAN 100J/KG ACROSS THE AREA HOWEVER AND GIVEN THIS...SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT CURRENTLY EXPECTED THURSDAY NIGHT. THERE ARE INDICATIONS FROM THE EC AND OPERATIONAL GFS OF A SUBTLE MID LEVEL PERTURBATION MOVING ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS DURING THE DAY FRIDAY. IN ADDITION TO THE PASSAGE OF THE MID LEVEL PERTURBATION...A LOW LEVEL TROUGH...OR WEAK BAROCLINIC ZONE...IS ALSO EXPECTED TO CLEAR THE AREA. OMEGA AHEAD OF THE PASSING MID LEVEL PERTURBATION...WORKING IN CONCERT WITH LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE ALONG THE TROUGH/BAROCLINIC ZONE...MAY BE ENOUGH TO PROMOTE AFTERNOON CONVECTIVE INITIATION ACROSS PORTIONS OF OUR AREA. ALLBLEND PROVIDED 20-30% POPS ACROSS OUR SOUTH/SOUTHEAST...FOR LOCATIONS WITHIN THE BETTER LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND RESULTANT POTENTIAL INSTABILITY. THESE POPS ALSO SEEMED REASONABLE AND WERE LEFT UNCHANGED. THE OPERATIONAL GFS IS MUCH MORE ROBUST WITH RESPECT TO LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ON FRIDAY WHEN COMPARED TO THE EC AND AS A RESULT...THE OPERATIONAL GFS IS ALSO MUCH MORE OPTIMISTIC WITH RESPECT TO AVAILABLE POTENTIAL INSTABILITY...SUGGESTING 1000-2000J/KG DEEP LAYER MUCAPE VALUES ACROSS OUR SOUTH. GIVEN THAT THE SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL FOR FRIDAY WILL BE GREATLY DEPENDENT UPON LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FLUX INTO THE AREA THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...IT REMAINS TOO EARLY TO PIN DOWN SEVERE WEATHER CHANCES...BUT SOMETHING FOR FUTURE SHIFTS TO MONITOR NONETHELESS. THERE MAY BE SOME LINGERING CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY HEADING INTO FRIDAY EVENING...BUT GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD QUICKLY DEPART OUR AREA TO THE EAST/SOUTHEAST AS THE LOW LEVEL BAROCLINIC ZONE AND MID LEVEL PERTURBATION DO THE SAME. BEYOND FRIDAY EVENING...GUIDANCE SUGGESTS SEVERAL MID LEVEL PERTURBATIONS COULD POTENTIALLY MOVE OVER OUR AREA. ALLBLEND PRESENTED HIT AND MISS 20% POPS ACROSS VARIOUS PORTIONS OF OUR CWA AS A RESULT. WHILE SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY CERTAINLY CANNOT BE COMPLETELY RULED OUT DURING THIS TIME PERIOD...GIVEN THE VERY LOW CONFIDENCE OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION BEING REALIZED ACROSS OUR CWA DURING THIS TIME PERIOD...OPTED TO REMOVE THESE LOW POPS AND KEPT THE FORECAST DRY SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY. FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE OF THE LOW LEVEL TROUGH/BAROCLINIC ZONE ON WEDNESDAY...LOW LEVEL RETURN FLOW SHOULD QUICKLY RE-ESTABLISH ITSELF ACROSS THE AREA WITH PERSISTENT SOUTHERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW EXPECTED THROUGH MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF THE LONG-TERM FORECAST PERIOD. RESULTANT LOW LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION SHOULD PROVIDE A WARMING TREND THROUGH MUCH OF THE LONG-TERM FORECAST...WITH THE AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURE CLIMBING INTO THE 70S ACROSS MUCH OF OUR CWA...AND PERHAPS NEARING 80 ACROSS OUR SOUTHWEST...BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 659 PM CDT MON APR 22 2013 PRECIPITATION HAS SHOVED OFF TO THE EAST. CEILINGS WILL LOWER OVERNIGHT...BUT WIND SHOULD REMAIN A BIT GUSTY TO PREVENT FOG DEVELOPMENT. CEILINGS SHOULD BREAK BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN. && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. KS...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 9 AM CDT TUESDAY FOR KSZ017>019. && UPDATE...HEINLEIN SHORT TERM...ADO LONG TERM...BRYANT AVIATION...HEINLEIN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 802 PM CDT MON APR 22 2013 KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087- 231200- PHILLIPS-SMITH-JEWELL-ROOKS-OSBORNE-MITCHELL-VALLEY-GREELEY-NANCE- SHERMAN-HOWARD-MERRICK-POLK-DAWSON-BUFFALO-HALL-HAMILTON-YORK- GOSPER-PHELPS-KEARNEY-ADAMS-CLAY-FILLMORE-FURNAS-HARLAN-FRANKLIN- WEBSTER-NUCKOLLS-THAYER- 802 PM CDT MON APR 22 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NORTH WINDS OF 25 TO 30 MPH AND GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE THIS EVENING. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING FOR ROOKS...OSBORNE AND MITCHELL COUNTIES OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...WHERE ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL OF 2 TO 3 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. PLEASE REFER TO THE WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY MORNING FOR ROOKS...OSBORNE AND MITCHELL COUNTIES OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. PLEASE REFER TO THE WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. NON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...AS WELL AS PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA GENERALLY SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 6...THURSDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL CONTINUE INTO THE DAY FRIDAY AND FRIDAY EVENING PRIMARILY FOR LOCATIONS ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM PHILLIPSBURG KANSAS TO YORK NEBRASKA. IT IS TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS (ALL LOWERCASE) HEINLEIN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
A total of 3.4 inches of snow fell 4 miles west northwest of Plainville.
A total of 3.0 inches of snow fell 5 miles south southwest of Scottsville.
A total of 3.5 inches of snow fell 10 miles south of Alton.
A total of 4.0 inches of snow fell in Natoma.
A total of 4.0 inches of snow fell near Covert.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, April 2013
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: 448283, 448284, 448286, 448287, 449774.