Heavy Snow in Kansas, December 21 to 22, 2013

Name: Heavy Snow in Kansas, December 21 to 22, 2013
Start: 2013-12-21T14:00
End: 2013-12-22T02:00
Location: Kansas

December 21 to 22, 2013 · NWS DDC · 16 events in 9 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 16 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: 16

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 DDC wrote it up.

A winter storm impacted parts of the southern and central plains with snow and ice on Friday and Saturday, December 20-21, 2013. In Kansas there was a swath of very heavy snow stretching from southwest into northeast Kansas. Some locations reported snowfall rates of 4 inches in only 30 minutes with near white-out conditions reported from the falling snow. It is remarkable that there was no snow to 15 inches in less than 20 miles in distance.

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 Dodge City, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 21, 1:53 PM CST, 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 21, 1:53 PM CST, 7 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 21, 4:14 AM CST, 9 hours 46 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
414 AM CST SAT DEC 21 2013

KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-221100-
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-
414 AM CST SAT DEC 21 2013 /314 AM MST SAT DEC 21 2013/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...SOUTH
CENTRAL...SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA
FOR TODAY AND EARLY TONIGHT. SEE WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE (WSWDDC) FOR
DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

&&

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBPAGE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/DDC

FINCH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

16 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Pawnee

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Pawnee forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 38.181, -99.237 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 15.5 inches was reported in Larned.

Heavy Snow, Edwards

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Edwards forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.888, -99.312 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 15.0 inches was reported in Kinsley.

Heavy Snow, Ford

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Ford forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.692, -99.888 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 14.0 inches was reported in Kingsdown.

Heavy Snow, Stafford

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Stafford forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 38.031, -98.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 13.0 inches was reported at a location 5 miles northwest of Dillwyn.

Heavy Snow, Pawnee

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Pawnee forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 38.181, -99.237 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 13.0 inches was reported at Frizell.

Heavy Snow, Stafford

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Stafford forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 38.031, -98.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 12.0 inches at a location 3 miles north of Hudson.

Heavy Snow, Pawnee

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Pawnee forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 38.181, -99.237 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 12.0 inches was observed at a location 7 miles northeast of Larned.

Heavy Snow, Ford

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Ford forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.692, -99.888 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 11.5 inches was observed at a location 1 mile WNW of Kingsdown.

Heavy Snow, Clark

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Clark forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.236, -99.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 11.0 inches was reported 3 miles northeast of Clark State Lake.

Heavy Snow, Ford

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Ford forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.692, -99.888 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 11.0 inches was reported 1 mile south of Bucklin.

Heavy Snow, Clark

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Clark forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.236, -99.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 10.0 inches was reported in Minneola.

Heavy Snow, Clark

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Clark forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.236, -99.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 14.0 inches was reported 5 miles southeast of Minneola.

Heavy Snow, Comanche

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Comanche forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.191, -99.272 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 8 inches was reported in Coldwater.

Heavy Snow, Meade

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Meade forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.238, -100.366 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 8 inches was reported 8 miles south of Plains.

Heavy Snow, Kiowa

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Kiowa forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.558, -99.286 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 6.5 inches was reported in Greensburg.

Heavy Snow, Stevens

When: December 21, 2:00 PM CST to December 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Stevens forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.192, -101.312 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall of 5.5 inches was reported 9 miles south of Hugoton.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kansas in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, December 2013

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 492576, 492577, 492578, 492579, 492580, 492581, 492582, 492583, 492584, 492585, 492586, 492587, 492588, 492589, 492590, 492591.