Drought conditions continue to improve across the region, with only parts of northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas, as well as east central Kansas and west central Missouri, remaining in Severe Drought (D2). Several storm systems have continued to ease drought conditions across the area.
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 EAX wrote it up.
Drought conditions continue to improve across the region, with only parts of northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas, as well as east central Kansas and west central Missouri, remaining in Severe Drought (D2). Several storm systems have continued to ease drought conditions across the area.
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 Kansas City, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 28, 10:52 PM CST, 1 hour 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO 1052 PM CST Thu Feb 28 2013 ...UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION... .DISCUSSION... Amplifying upper ridge over the western U.S. is leading to deepening northerly flow over the forecast area. Very weak impulses dropping through the region will bring periods of light snow/flurries to eastern portions of the forecast area tonight and Friday. Moisture across that area is adequate but deep forcing looks unimpressive, so any snowfall amounts over northern and central MO should be light, if anything at all. Upper ridge to the west will slowly transition eastward over the weekend but rapidly amplify as it does so. This will allow for a subtle warm up into the upper 30s and lower 40s by Sunday, possibly even mid to upper 40s across the western zones where down slope flow could enhance the warmup. Of course, a lot of solar energy will go into melting the deep SNOWPACK on the ground instead of heating the atmosphere so temps will struggle to reach their full potential. A transition back into progressive flow across the country will occur early next week starting with a clipper system dropping into the Midwest Monday and Tuesday. There is still quite a bit of uncertainty with the track and strength of this feature, as is quite common with these fast-moving systems dropping out of Canada. GFS, which seems to be the more stable solution with this system, has slowly trended westward which could bring the heavier PRECIP axis into central and northern MO Monday night. 12Z ECMWF came in as a slower and weaker outlier from its previous runs and the GFS/GE FS solutions. However, its solution does have some support from its previous ensemble run so it's not worth completely discounting. For now chose to go closer to a blend of GFS/GE FS mean and 00Z ECMWF which will bring a chance for rain/snow into much of the area Monday night. Forecast thermal profiles will support mostly snow north of the surface low track, some of which may accumulate. May need to watch for a band of more significant snow accumulations if the GFS solution were to verify, as the upper-level PV anomaly overrunning a deep low-level theta-e gradient over the Central Plains could result in quick mesoscale cyclogenesis and enhanced snowfall over a relatively small area. But it's too early to really examine details like this when there is such variability in the broader track and strength of the upper wave. In a continued progressive pattern, ridging will be quick to spread into the Plains by early Wednesday and could finally bring above-normal temperatures to the forecast area by Thursday. Hawblitzel && .AVIATION... For the 06Z TAFs, MVFR conditions are expected through much of the valid period with low end VFR ceilings possible by late tomorrow afternoon. The main question is if/when fuel alternate ceilings build into the terminals. These lower ceilings have remained over southeastern NE and IA with ceilings actually raising farther south. Model guidance is inconsistent, at best, so confidence is not very good with the potential the fuel alternate levels. As a result, have pushed back the timing to after 12Z with ceiling raising to VFR during the afternoon. Winds should be consistent and out of the north at about 12 to 15 kts by the afternoon hours. CDB && .EAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...NONE. KS...NONE. && WFO EAX
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO 624 PM CST THU FEB 28 2013 KSZ025-057-060-102>105-MOZ001>008-011>017-020>025-028>033-037>040- 043>046-053-054-011230- ATCHISON KS-MIAMI-LINN KS-DONIPHAN-LEAVENWORTH-WYANDOTTE-JOHNSON KS- ATCHISON MO-NODAWAY-WORTH-GENTRY-HARRISON-MERCER-PUTNAM-SCHUYLER- HOLT-ANDREW-DE KALB-DAVIESS-GRUNDY-SULLIVAN-ADAIR-BUCHANAN-CLINTON- CALDWELL-LIVINGSTON-LINN MO-MACON-PLATTE-CLAY-RAY-CARROLL-CHARITON- RANDOLPH-JACKSON-LAFAYETTE-SALINE-HOWARD-CASS-JOHNSON MO-PETTIS- COOPER-BATES-HENRY- 624 PM CST THU FEB 28 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST...NORTH CENTRAL AND WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI...AS WELL AS EXTREME EASTERN KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT LIGHT SNOW WITH LESS THAN AN INCH ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE FOR SNOW MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY OVER NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MISSOURI. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. CDB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Moderate to severe (D1-D2) drought conditions were observed across the county. Atchison reported 2.03 inches of precipitation.
Moderate to severe (D1-D2) drought conditions were observed across the county. Troy measured 2.01 inches of precipitation.
Severe (D2) drought conditions were observed across the county. Mound city reported 2.42 inches of precipitation.
Severe (D2) drought conditions were observed across the county. Osawatomie reported 2.10 inches of precipitation.
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, March 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: 434358, 434359, 434360, 434361.