A deep low pressure area moved across the Great Lakes, with a tightening pressure gradient over the Central Plains. This tight gradient led to very strong and gusty winds northwest winds across much of Central Kansas.
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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 ICT wrote it up.
A deep low pressure area moved across the Great Lakes, with a tightening pressure gradient over the Central Plains. This tight gradient led to very strong and gusty winds northwest winds across much of Central Kansas. Wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph occurred along Interstate 70.
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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 16, 11:23 AM CST, 3 hours 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 1123 AM CST THU JAN 16 2014 .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 308 AM CST THU JAN 16 2014 IN THE UPPER LEVELS...A STRONG SHORTWAVE IS DIVING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS/UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY WITH ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVE ENERGY OVER THE EASTERN CONUS. AT THE SURFACE...DEEP LOW PRESSURE IS CENTERED OVER NORTHERN MN WITH A TROUGH EXTENDING FROM EASTERN KS AND DOWN INTO WEST TX. && .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 1114 AM CST THU JAN 16 2014 HAVE RECENTLY EXPANDED THE WIND ADVISORY FOR THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHEAST KS...AND THE RED FLAG WARNING INTO SOUTHEAST KS. THIS IS BASED ON RECENT WIND OBSERVATIONS AT CNU...13K (EUREKA) AND ICT. NUDGED HIGHS UP 2-4 DEGREES ALSO BASED ON OBSERVATION TRENDS. JMC && .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 308 AM CST THU JAN 16 2014 THE STRONG SHORTWAVE IS EXPECTED TO TRACK SOUTHEAST TODAY ACROSS THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. AS THIS OCCURS STRONG NW WINDS WILL OVERSPREAD THE AREA. WITH PLENTY OF SUN WE SHOULD GET DEEP MIXING AND WITH UNIDIRECTIONAL FLOW UP TO AT LEAST 500MB. THIS WILL PROVIDE PRIME MOMENTUM TRANSFER CONDITIONS. WILL GO AHEAD AND CONVERT THE HIGH WIND WATCH TO A HIGH WIND WARNING AND LEAVE THE WIND ADVISORY FOR THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL KS. WILL ALSO CHANGE THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH OVER TO A RED FLAG WARNING. SEE FIRE WEATHER SECTION FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. DEEP MIXING WILL ALLOW FOR THE AREA TO REACH ITS MAX HEATING POTENTIAL PRODUCING ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA TODAY. SHORTWAVE ENERGY WILL RAPIDLY MOVE SOUTHEAST ON FRI AND BY FRI EVENING WILL BE SITUATED OVER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. SOME COOLER AIR WILL TRY TO WORK-IN FROM THE EAST BUT A MAJOR COOL DOWN IS NOT EXPECTED WITH HIGHS FRI NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS. THE ACTIVE NW FLOW PATTERN WILL CONTINUE FOR SAT AS ANOTHER IMPULSE TRACKS OUT OF MANITOBA AND INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY BY SAT AFTERNOON. THE SLIGHTLY FURTHER EAST POSITION OF THE STORM TRACK WILL KEEP ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS IN PLACE. IN FACT...WITH GREAT DOWNSLOPE AND MIXING CONDITIONS...MUCH OF THE AREA COULD SEE HIGHS IN THE LOW 60S SUN. .LONG TERM...(SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY) ISSUED AT 308 AM CST THU JAN 16 2014 THE POLAR VORTEX WILL SLIDE SOUTHEAST OVER ONTARIO/QUEBEC THROUGH THESE EXTENDED PERIODS PULLING DOWN SOME VERY COLD AIR OVER GREAT LAKES/OHIO VALLEY. MEANWHILE OVER THE PLAINS NW FLOW WILL REMAIN WHICH WILL KEEP NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS IN PLACE ALONG WITH THE CONTINUED DRY CONDITIONS. CONFIDENCE IS HIGH THAT THROUGH THE NEXT 7 DAYS WE ARE NOT LOOKING AT ANY SIGNIFICANT COLD OUTBREAKS OR WINTER STORMS. LAWSON && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1114 AM CST THU JAN 16 2014 MAIN HAZARD: STRONG/GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS. DEEP SURFACE-750 MB MIXING AND UNIDIRECTIONAL WIND PROFILES WILL BRING STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS DOWN TO THE SURFACE THIS AFTERNOON. PEAK WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 46 KNOTS ARE EXPECTED AT RSL/SLN/HUT/ICT/CNU TERMINALS. NORTHWEST WINDS WILL SUBSIDE THIS EVENING AS MIXING AND DAYTIME HEATING WEAKEN. A FEW SCATTERED DECKS AT 6,000 FT AGL EXPECTED AT CNU THIS AFTERNOON...OTHERWISE CLEAR AND VFR IS EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. JMC && .FIRE WEATHER... ISSUED AT 1120 AM CST THU JAN 16 2014 VERY STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS ARE STILL EXPECTED TODAY ACROSS CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS. SUSTAINED SPEEDS ACROSS CENTRAL KS WILL BE IN THE 35 TO 40 MPH RANGE WITH GUSTS TO 50 TO 55 MPH. OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KS LOOK FOR SUSTAINED SPEEDS IN THE 30 TO 35 MPH RANGE WITH GUSTS OF 45 TO 50 MPH. RH'S TODAY WILL RANGE FROM AROUND 18% ALONG/WEST OF HIGHWAY 14...TO THE 30% OVER SE KS. THE GRASSLAND FIRE DANGER INDEX(GFDI) WILL BE EXTREME OVER ALL BUT FAR SOUTHEAST KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON...WITH PEAK GFDI VALUES OF 100 TO 135 IN CENTRAL KS. JMC && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... WICHITA-KICT 54 21 44 27 / 0 0 0 0 HUTCHINSON 54 21 45 27 / 0 0 0 0 NEWTON 53 21 43 28 / 0 0 0 0 ELDORADO 54 21 43 27 / 0 0 0 0 WINFIELD-KWLD 55 22 44 26 / 0 0 0 0 RUSSELL 51 19 47 26 / 0 0 0 0 GREAT BEND 52 18 47 26 / 0 0 0 0 SALINA 50 20 43 26 / 0 0 0 0 MCPHERSON 52 21 44 27 / 0 0 0 0 COFFEYVILLE 55 22 40 27 / 0 0 0 0 CHANUTE 52 19 38 25 / 0 0 0 0 IOLA 52 19 38 24 / 0 0 0 0 PARSONS-KPPF 53 19 39 25 / 0 0 0 0 && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR KSZ049>053-067>072- 082-083-091>096-098>100. RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR KSZ032-033- 047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098. HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR KSZ032-033-047- 048. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 101 PM CST THU JAN 16 2014 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-171900- RUSSELL-LINCOLN-BARTON-ELLSWORTH-SALINE-RICE-MCPHERSON-MARION-CHASE- RENO-HARVEY-BUTLER-GREENWOOD-WOODSON-ALLEN-KINGMAN-SEDGWICK-HARPER- SUMNER-COWLEY-ELK-WILSON-NEOSHO-CHAUTAUQUA-MONTGOMERY-LABETTE- 101 PM CST THU JAN 16 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS... SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS WILL AFFECT MUCH OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON WITH PEAK GUSTS RANGING FROM 40 TO 55 MPH. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY ALONG AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 14. PLEASE REFER TO THE HIGH WIND WARNING AND WIND ADVISORY FOR DETAILS. THE STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH DRY CONDITIONS TO ELEVATE THE GRASSLAND FIRE DANGER INTO THE EXTREME CATEGORY FOR ALL BUT FAR SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS. PLEASE REFER TO THE RED FLAG WARNING FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT. && FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS INFORMATION...SEE OUR WEBPAGE AT (LOWERCASE) HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/WICHITA/HWO/HWO.PHP
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Russell airport ASOS reported the gust.
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, January 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: 497638.