Starting during the late evening hours of Saturday the 22nd, peaking in intensity overnight and gradually moving out by late morning on the 23rd, a notably-narrow band of heavy snow in the 6-8 inch range targeted mainly the northern halves of Phillips and Smith counties, with isolated 6 amounts also reported as far east as central Jewell County. Meanwhile, southern portions of these counties,…
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 GID wrote it up.
Starting during the late evening hours of Saturday the 22nd, peaking in intensity overnight and gradually moving out by late morning on the 23rd, a notably-narrow band of heavy snow in the 6-8 inch range targeted mainly the northern halves of Phillips and Smith counties, with isolated 6 amounts also reported as far east as central Jewell County. Meanwhile, southern portions of these counties, along with all of Rooks, Osborne and Mitchell counties observed little to no accumulation. Within this six-county portion of North Central Kansas, the primary heavy snow band generally extended no more than 5-10 miles either side of a line stretched from near Long Island to Mankato. Per NWS cooperative observers, a few of the highest official snow totals featured 8.9 at Lebanon, 8.0 at Smith Center and 6.5 at Mankato. Only a short distance south of the primary band, locations such as Logan and Beloit hardly saw a single snowflake. Fortunately, winds were not a major issue during this event, with sustained northeasterly speeds of generally 10-15 MPH keeping blowing and drifting to a minimum.
Timing-wise, this quasi-stationary heavy snow band first started building southward into extreme North Central Kansas out of southern Nebraska during the 10 PM-12 AM time frame, peaked in intensity during the pre-dawn hours, and gradually weakened and slid off to the east during the morning of the 23rd. Not surprisingly, the meteorological culprit for this narrow, banded snow event was a concentrated zone of mid level frontogenesis evident at the 700 millibar level, driven by lift from passing upper level jet streaks. On the larger scale aloft, a broad, low-amplitude trough encompassed most of the nation. At the surface during this snow event, North Central Kansas became increasingly under the influence of high pressure building southward out of southern Canada.
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 Feb 22, 9:40 PM CST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
940 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2014
.UPDATE...
ISSUED AT 939 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2014
PER COORDINATION AND WHERE CURRENT SNOW BAND IS SETTING UP...HAVE
EXPANDED WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TO INCLUDE FURNAS AND HARLAN COUNTIES.
UPDATE ISSUED AT 859 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2014
COMPLICATED FORECAST AS WE HEAD INTO TONIGHT AS TO WHERE SNOW
BANDS WILL SET UP. HAVE BEEN MONITORING SNOW BAND ACROSS WESTERN
NEB WHICH HAS MIGRATED EASTWARD EARLY THIS EVENING. DRIER AIR TO
THE EAST HAS BEEN SLOW TO OVERCOME BUT A SNOW BAND HAS MANAGED TO
MOVE IN AND IS ORIENTED W/E GENERALLY FM KLBF TO KLXN TO KHDE AND
POINTS JUST TO THE SOUTH. THE SNOW IS ALIGNED FAIRLY WELL WITH THE MID
LEVEL FRONTOGENESIS WHICH IS PRIMARILY PROGGED ALONG OUR WESTERN
CWA THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF THE NIGHT. HAVE EXPANDED OUR CURRENT
WINTER WX ADVISORY TO INCLUDE PHELPS AND KEARNEY COUNTIES WHERE
SNOW HAS COMMENCED AND A LONGER DURATION OF SNOW IS EXPECTED. AS
WE HEAD INTO TONIGHT WE SEE AN INCREASE IN ISENTROPIC LIFT AS
INDICATED ON THE 290K SURFACE AND THE LIFT PERSISTS FOR SEVERAL
HOURS...INTO SUNDAY MORNING. THE UPPER JET STREAK NOSES ACROSS
WESTERN NEB SUNDAY MORNING WITH LIFT CONTINUING SUNDAY MORNING IN
LFQ OF JET. ONE OF THE MORE NOTABLE CHANGES IN THE LATEST MODEL
RUNS THAT SNOW IS EXPECTED TO PERSIST LONGER SUNDAY MORNING WITH
ADDITIONAL LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE. SNOW AMOUNTS WILL BE
DEPENDENT UPON SNOW BANDS WITH SEVERAL INCHES...AND LOCALLY HEAVY
SNOWFALL POSSIBLE WITHIN THE BANDS.
&&
.SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY)
ISSUED AT 407 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2014
...ABOVE NORMAL UNCERTAINTY TONIGHT IN A SWATH OF SNOW THAT COULD
END UP DUMPING 6-8 INCHES "IF" THE WORST CASE UNFOLDS...
ALOFT: VERY LOW AMPLITUDE WNW CYCLONIC FLOW WILL REMAIN OVER THE
CNTRL PLAINS THRU SUN. WV IMAGERY SHOWS A SUBTLE SHORTWAVE TROF
OVER BRITISH COLUMBIA. PART OF THIS TROF WILL RACE THRU TONIGHT.
SURFACE: A COLD FRONT MOVED THRU LAST NIGHT AND CURRENTLY
EXTENDED FROM ST. LOUIS-OKLAHOMA CITY-LUBBOCK TX. THIS FRONT WILL
SLOWLY SAG DEEPER INTO TX/AR BY SUNSET SUNDAY.
MEANWHILE...CANADIAN HIGH PRES WILL GRADUALLY BUILD S THRU THE
PLAINS.
REST OF THIS AFTERNOON: INCREASING CLOUDS OVER S-CNTRL NEB WILL
OBSCURE THE SUN WHILE N-CNTRL KS SHOULD SEE A NICE END TO THE DAY.
HIGH TEMPS WILL OCCUR 4-5 PM.
TONIGHT: BECOMING CLOUDY WITH A BAND OF SNOW DEVELOPING ACROSS
THE FCST AREA AND IT COULD BECOME HEAVY IN A VERY NARROW SWATH
OVER S-CNTRL NEB. PROBABILITIES OF NO SNOW AT ALL ARE HIGHEST OVER
N-CNTRL KS.
THIS WILL BE A JET STREAK DRIVEN EVENT AS WIND/MASS ADJUSTMENTS
RESULT IN WARM AIR ADVECTION AND FRONTOGENESIS /FGEN/ ON THE
FRONT THAT MOVED THRU LAST NIGHT. CROSS SECTIONS INDICATE MID-
LEVEL UPRIGHT INSTABILITY AND LIFT WILL BE STRONG IN THE DENDRITIC
GROWTH ZONE /DGZ/.
SEVERAL SCENARIOS ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND WE WILL REALLY NOT KNOW
WHICH ONE IS RIGHT UNTIL WE SEE THIS UNFOLD. THIS FCST IS FRAUGHT
WITH UNCERTAINTY AND WE ARE ADMITTEDLY CONSERVATIVE ON SNOW
AMOUNTS AND THE AERIAL EXTENT OF THE ADVISORY. BE PREPARED FOR
ADJUSTMENTS LATER THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT THAT COULD RESULT IN
DRAMATICALLY INCREASING OR DECREASING AMOUNTS FOR YOUR AREA.
09Z AND 15Z SREF PROBABILITIES FOR .25" ARE HIGHEST IN THE
ADVISORY AREA. THE 15Z PROBS FOR .25" ARE HIGHER THAN 09Z AND THE
70% CHANCE OF .25" NOW EXTENDS E TO GRI. THE 19Z RAP SUPPORTS
THIS. A CHECK OF THE 18Z NAM HAS .25" TO HASTINGS.
SNOW TOTALS: GENERALLY 1-3" OVER S-CNTRL NEB. 2-3" FROM THE
TRI-CITIES WESTWARD...AND 3-4" PRIMARILY OVER DAWSON COUNTY. THIS
IS OUR BEST STAB USING A BLEND THE 00Z/06Z/12Z MULTI-MODEL QPF.
THAT PRESENTS A PROBLEM. TOO MUCH AVERAGING SHOULD HIT THE SWATH
OF SNOW CORRECTLY...BUT IT MAY BE TOO BROAD COMPARED TO REALITY
AND FCST AMOUNTS MAY NOT BE HIGH ENOUGH.
SNOW-LIQUID RATIOS: USED PRIMARILY 15:1 THRU THE EVENING AND
CLOSE TO 20:1 AFTER MIDNIGHT. GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THE LIFT IN
THE DGZ... THESE RATIOS COULD ALSO BE CONSERVATIVE.
POSSIBLE WEAKNESSES IN TONIGHT/S FCST:
1) WE MAY BE TOO BROAD WITH THE EDGES OF THE SNOW BAND...I.E. IT
MAY BE MORE NARROW THAN DEPICTED.
2) DO WE HAVE THE HIGHEST POPS IN THE RIGHT LOCATION? THE HI-RES
GEM HAS THE BAND BETWEEN I-80 AND THE KS BORDER. WE ARE IN THE
I-80 CORRIDOR.
3) DEWPOINTS MAY BE TOO HIGH N OF I-80. DEWPOINTS IN THE SINGLE
DIGITS ARE AS CLOSE AS O'NEILL. ADVECTION OF THIS VERY DRY AIR
WILL PLAY A ROLE IN LIMITING THE NRN EXTENT OF THE BAND.
4) ARE AMOUNTS HIGH ENOUGH? WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE A
NARROW STRIP OF WARNING LEVEL SNOW /6-8"/ SOMEWHERE GIVEN THE
RATIOS WE ARE LIKELY TO SEE.
UNCERTAINTY: PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE ARE SOME AREAS THAT
HAVE SNOW IN THE FCST...BUT WILL SEE NO SNOW AT ALL. THIS
ESPECIALLY APPLIES IF THE FCST PROBABILITY OF SNOW AT YOUR
LOCATION IS 40% OR BELOW. THERE WILL BE A SHARP CUT-OFF ON THE NRN
AND SRN FRINGES OF THIS BAND. THE SMALL SCALE NATURE OF THIS BAND
IS PROBLEMATIC FOR PINNING DOWN DETAILS...BUT THIS COULD END UP A
WARNING LEVEL EVENT FOR SOME COUNTIES.
LOW TEMPS WERE FROM CONSENSUS OF 2M TEMPS WHICH RAISED TEMPS
SEVERAL DEGREES.
SUN: FGEN LIFTS N AND MID-LEVELS DRY OUT WITH STABILITY RETURNING.
PATCHES OF LIGHT SNOW WILL LINGER THRU MID-MORNING...BUT THE
ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL ESSENTIALLY BE OVER. PLENTY OF CLOUDS WILL
REMAIN AND A FEW FLURRIES COULD REDEVELOP N AND W OF THE TRI-
CITIES IN THE AFTERNOON.
HIGH TEMPS HAVE A LOT OF CONTINUITY WITH THE 4 AM GID FCST. THE
ONLY CHANGE WAS TO NUDGE TEMPS DOWN E OF HWY 281.
.LONG TERM...(SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY)
ISSUED AT 407 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2014
THE BIG STORY WILL BE THE WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ALONG
WITH SEVERAL CHANCES OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION. HIGH TEMPERATURES
THROUGH THE PERIOD WILL GENERALLY AVERAGE 10 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL.
SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...MID LEVEL ISENTROPIC LIFT WILL RESULT
IN SOME LOW END LIGHT SNOW CHANCES PRIMARILY ACROSS OUR NORTHERN
ZONES WITH THE BETTER SNOW CHANCES WELL NORTH OF OUR FORECAST AREA
ACROSS SOUTH DAKOTA. ALTHOUGH NOT IN THE OFFICIAL FORECAST AS OF
RIGHT NOW...WILL ALSO NEED TO WATCH OUT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF
LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE ACROSS OUR NORTHERN AND WESTERN ZONES LATE
SUNDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY MORNING. ANY FREEZING DRIZZLE WOULD
PRIMARILY BE CONFINED TO OUR WESTERN AND NORTHERN ZONES. THE 12Z
GFS AND ECMWF DO NOT REALLY SHOW MUCH IN THE WAY OF FREEZING
DRIZZLE POTENTIAL...BUT THE 12Z AND 18Z NAM DO INDICATE SOME
POTENTIAL WITH LOW LEVEL SATURATION BENEATH A DRY MID LEVEL. THE
NAM IS STILL A BIT OF AN OUTLIER AND THE POTENTIAL EVEN IN THE NAM
IS SO MARGINAL THAT WE WILL CONTINUE TO LEAVE FREEZING DRIZZLE OUT
OF THE FORECAST FOR NOW. ANY SNOW AMOUNTS WOULD LIKELY BE VERY
LIGHT AND LESS THAN ONE HALF INCH.
MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...A SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL TRACK
SOUTHEAST OUT OF CANADA. ASSOCIATED UPPER JET DYNAMICS AND A
PROGRESSIVE BAND OF MID LEVEL FRONTOGENESIS WILL LEAD TO
ADDITIONAL CHANCES FOR LIGHT SNOW. NOT EXPECTING MUCH SNOW AT
THIS TIME WITH MOST PLACES SEEING FLURRIES UP TO 1 INCH. COLDER
AIR WILL FILTER IN ON TUESDAY WITH HIGHS STUCK IN THE 20S FOR MOST
AREAS.
WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...WILL TRANSITION FROM A NORTHWESTERLY
FLOW PATTERN TO A MORE ZONAL PATTERN...WITH PERHAPS EVEN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN CONUS LATE IN THE PERIOD.
OVERALL...THIS IS MORE LIKELY BE A DRY AND COOL PERIOD FOR OUR
FORECAST AREA.
&&
.AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY EVENING)
ISSUED AT 521 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2014
THE MAIN FORECAST ISSUE DURING THE TAF PERIOD IS THE DEVELOPMENT
OF A FRONTOGENETIC BAND OF SNOWFALL OVERNIGHT AND INTO SUNDAY
MORNING. SNOW HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED ACROSS WESTERN NEBRASKA AND
THE SNOW SHOULD REACH KGRI AROUND 06Z WITH SNOW CONTINUING
THROUGH THE NIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATION FOR KGRI IS EXPECTED TO RANGE
FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES. AS THE SNOW DEVELOPS/FALLS...CONDITIONS WILL DROP
TO IFR OR POTENTIALLY LIFR. AS THE SNOW ENDS ON SUNDAY...VSBYS AND
CIGS WILL IMPROVE BUT KEPT AFTN CIGS AT MVFR.
&&
.GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NE...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CST SUNDAY FOR NEZ060-061-
072>074-082-083.
KS...NONE.
&&
UPDATE...FAY
SHORT TERM...HALBLAUB
LONG TERM...WESELY
AVIATION...FAYHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 941 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2014 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- 941 PM CST SAT FEB 22 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. SNOW WILL FALL DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...ESPECIALLY ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. WHERE SNOW PERSISTS...1 TO 4 INCHES OF ACCUMULATION WILL OCCUR AND LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS WILL BE POSSIBLE. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR DAWSON...BUFFALO...AND GOSPER...PHELPS...KEARNEY...FURNAS AND HARLAN COUNTIES...WHERE THE GREATEST RISK OF 3 OR MORE INCHES IS EXPECTED. PLEASE SEE THE WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. ICE JAMS ALONG THE LOUP RIVER IN NANCE COUNTY AND THE PLATTE RIVER IN HALL COUNTY WILL RESULT IN POSSIBLE LOW LAND FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW WILL LINGER INTO SUNDAY MORNING OVER SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...BEFORE GRADUALLY ENDING AROUND MID DAY. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS SUNDAY MORNING ARE EXPECTED TO AVERAGE LESS THAN ONE INCH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. HOWEVER... SPOTTERS...PLEASE REPORT ICE JAM FLOODING AND SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. PHOTOS CAN BE POSTED TO OUR FACEBOOK AND TWITTER ACCOUNTS. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS (ALL LOWERCASE)
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy snow, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
A snowfall total of 6.0 inches occurred 1 mile north of Long Island.
A snowfall total of 8.9 inches occurred in the community of Lebanon and 8.0 inches occurred in Smith Center.
A snowfall total of 6.5 inches occurred in Mankato. However, lesser amounts occurred over a larger part of Jewell County, with 5.1 inches in Ionia and 3.8 inches in Burr Oak.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, February 2014
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: 504209, 504211, 504213.