An upper level low spun around the Southwest United States during this time frame with weak upper level shortwaves being ejected eastward across the Central Rockies into the Central High Plains. This caused diffluent westerly flow above the Central High Plains.
Every event with a place to put it; 13 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 DDC wrote it up.
An upper level low spun around the Southwest United States during this time frame with weak upper level shortwaves being ejected eastward across the Central Rockies into the Central High Plains. This caused diffluent westerly flow above the Central High Plains. A strong upper level jet was also in place above the area of concern. Mid-level Isentropic lift of saturated air was present during this event and was the main lifting mechanism. A dome of high pressure shifted eastward as the weekend approached allowing southeast upslope winds to be felt across western Kansas. Light to moderate rain started to fall across far western Kansas by late Saturday morning, spreading eastward as the afternoon progressed. Precipitation then changed over to snow by evening, first across west central Kansas, then the remainder of southwest Kansas by midnight. Moderate snow showers were observed throughout the night with occasional light snow reported throughout Sunday. Light to moderate snow fell once again across portions of western Kansas Sunday night before ending by late Monday morning. By the time the snow ended, snowfall amounts of 6-10 inches were reported across west central Kansas, 3-7 inches across southwest Kansas, and 1-4 inches across central and south central Kansas.
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 Feb 21, 5:48 AM CST, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS 548 AM CST SAT FEB 21 2015 ...UPDATED AVIATION SECTION... .SHORT TERM...(TODAY AND TONIGHT) ISSUED AT 335 AM CST SAT FEB 21 2015 THE SUBSYNOPTIC DETAILS OF THE APPROACHING WINTER STORM ARE COMING INTO BETTER FOCUS, AND AS THE EVENT DRAWS NEARER, THE CONFIDENCE IN RELIABILITY OF MESOSCALE MODELS HAS INCREASED. THIS IS SHAPING UP TO BE A CLASSIC FRONTOGENESIS EVENT, AND AS SUCH, HEAVIER SNOWFALL APPEARS LIKELY. BOTH THE NCEP WRF-ARW AND WRF-NMMB ARE VERY CLOSE ON SNOWFALL THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY OF 6 TO 10 INCHES ACROSS A GOOD CHUNK OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS, MAINLY WEST OF A SCOTT CITY TO GARDEN CITY TO MEADE LINE. UPON LOOKING AT THE FORCING FIELDS ON THE NAM12, THESE VERY AGGRESSIVE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS ARE NOT TOO UNREASONABLE. THE NAM12 FRONTOGENESIS IN THE 700-800MB LAYER WILL BE VERY IMPRESSIVE WITH CONVERGENCE AND DEFORMATION IN THIS LAYER SHIFTING SOUTH THROUGH THE NIGHT FROM FAR WEST CENTRAL KANSAS 03-06Z TOWARD THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE BY DAYBREAK SUNDAY. EVEN THE LATEST 06Z HAS AN 8- 10 INCH SWATH ACROSS THE HIGHWAY 50 CORRIDOR THROUGH 12Z FROM SYRACUSE TO GARDEN CITY. CONFIDENCE IS HIGH ENOUGH NOW TO JUSTIFY EXPANDING THE WINTER STORM WARNING SOUTH AND EAST TO INCLUDE GARDEN CITY, ELKHART, AND LIBERAL...WITH A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TO INCLUDE SCOTT CITY, DIGHTON, DODGE CITY, MEADE, AND ASHLAND. THE OFFICIAL STORM TOTAL SNOW GRIDS WILL FALL SHORT OF THE VERY AGGRESSIVE MESOSCALE MODELS, BUT ARE WITHIN THE WARNING CRITERIA FOR HEAVY SNOW WITH HIGHEST AMOUNTS OF AROUND 8 INCHES IN SYRACUSE, JOHNSON, LAKIN, ULYSSES, AND SUBLETTE. MUCH OF THE SNOWFALL WILL OCCUR WITHIN A 12 HOUR PERIOD FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE DAY SUNDAY. AS FAR AS TEMPERATURES GO, WE HAVE WARMED UP TODAY'S HIGHS QUITE A BIT, AS WE SHOULD SEE SOME FILTERED SUNSHINE IN BETWEEN STORM SYSTEM, ALLOWING TEMPERATURES TO WARM INTO THE 40S TO LOWER 50S. PRECIP TYPE WILL BE A BIT OF A CHALLENGE EARLY ON, AS A RESULT, WITH SOME LIGHT RAIN EXPECTED AT THE ONSET OF PRECIPITATION LATE THIS AFTERNOON OUT WEST. THE SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING QUICKLY SOUTH THIS EVENING, SO A RAPID CHANGE OVER TO SNOW IS EXPECTED DURING THE MID TO LATE EVENING HOURS FROM NORTH TO SOUTH. .LONG TERM...(SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 142 AM CST SAT FEB 21 2015 THE SNOWFALL DISCUSSED IN THE SHORT TERM DISCUSSION IN ASSOCIATION WITH ISENTROPIC LIFT AND MID LEVEL FRONTOGENESIS WILL LINGER THROUGH SUNDAY AND EVEN MONDAY BEFORE GRADUALLY ENDING IN SOUTHERN KANSAS MONDAY AFTERNOON. HOWEVER, LIFT WILL NOT BE NEAR AS INTENSE SO THAT MAINLY LIGHT ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL OF 1 TO 2 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED FROM DODGE CITY SOUTH AND WEST AFTER 9 AM SUNDAY. STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE 6 TO 8 INCHES IN PARTS OF WESTERN AND SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS WHERE A WINTER STORM WARNING WAS EXPANDED, WITH LESSER AMOUNTS TO THE EAST WHERE THE ADVISORY WAS EXPANDED. THE COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURES SUNDAY AND MONDAY WILL TEND TO BE IN AREAS OF PERSISTENT CLOUDINESS AND LIGHT SNOWFALL IN FAR WESTERN KANSAS AND NEAR THE OKLAHOMA BORDER. THE UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM DISCUSSED IN THE SHORT TERM SECTION OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES WILL PASS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS BY TUESDAY. ANY PRECIPITATION BY THIS TIME SHOULD BE SUPPRESSED TO THE SOUTH OF KANSAS. ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE WILL ONLY MOVE TO THE EAST VERY SLOWLY, RESULTING IN A CONTINUATION OF COLD TEMPERATURES THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. AREAS THAT RECEIVE THE HEAVY SNOW THIS WEEKEND WILL BE SLOW TO WARM. MODERATION IN TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED BY TUESDAY AS SURFACE TROUGHING DEVELOPS IN THE LEE OF THE ROCKIES, ALONG WITH DOWNSLOPE WINDS. AGAIN, TEMPERATURES WILL NOT WARM AS MUCH IN AREAS THAT RECEIVED HEAVY SNOW. BY MID TO LATE NEXT WEEK, THE NEXT UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL SLOWLY EVOLVE OVER THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, WITH ANOTHER ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM NOSING INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR POSSIBLE SNOW EVENT(S) FROM WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY, ALONG WITH COLDER AIR. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY MORNING) ISSUED AT 544 AM CST SAT FEB 21 2015 A WINTER STORM WILL OVERSPREAD THE SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL KANSAS REGION, INCLUDING GCK, DDC, HYS TERMINALS TONIGHT. CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE 00-06Z TIME FRAME TONIGHT. LIGHT RAIN WILL CHANGE TO A RAIN-SNOW MIX AND QUICKLY ALL SNOW AROUND OR SHORTLY AFTER 03Z. EXPECT LIFR OR VLIFR CONDITIONS WITH MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW AT TIMES, ESPECIALLY AT GARDEN CITY. HAYS WILL ESCAPE THE HEAVIEST SNOW, BUT IFR AND EVEN LIFR CONDITIONS CAN STILL BE EXPECTED UP IN THAT AREA. LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY SUNDAY. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DDC 48 17 20 13 / 30 90 70 50 GCK 45 17 20 10 / 70 100 80 80 EHA 45 18 20 10 / 20 90 80 80 LBL 46 18 20 12 / 20 90 80 80 HYS 47 16 24 13 / 20 70 40 30 P28 53 17 23 13 / 0 60 40 40 && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 9 PM CST /8 PM MST/ THIS EVENING TO 6 AM CST /5 AM MST/ MONDAY FOR KSZ061>063-074>077-084>086. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM CST MONDAY FOR KSZ043-044-064-078-087-088. && SHORT TERM...UMSCHEID LONG TERM...FINCH AVIATION...UMSCHEID
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS 501 AM CST SAT FEB 21 2015 KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-221115- 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- 501 AM CST SAT FEB 21 2015 ...WINTER STORM TO AFFECT SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL KANSAS TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL...SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED... LIMITED EXCESSIVE COLD RISK. SIGNIFICANT SNOW RISK. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. HAZARDS WEATHER RISK... SUNDAY... LIMITED EXCESSIVE COLD RISK. ELEVATED SNOW RISK. MONDAY... LIMITED EXCESSIVE COLD RISK. LIMITED SNOW RISK. TUESDAY... ELEVATED EXCESSIVE COLD RISK. WEDNESDAY... NO HAZARDS. THURSDAY... ELEVATED EXCESSIVE COLD RISK. FRIDAY... ELEVATED EXCESSIVE COLD RISK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && FOR MORE DETAILS VISIT OUR WEBPAGE HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/DDC/?N=HWO
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
13 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall of 8 to 10 inches fell across the western part of the county and 4 to 6 across eastern sections.
Snowfall of 6 to 10 inches fell across the county.
Snowfall of 6 to 10 inches fell across the county.
Snowfall of 6 to 10 inches fell across the county.
Snowfall of 5 to 8 inches fell across the county.
Snowfall of 5 to 8 inches fell across the county.
Snowfall of 5 to 8 inches fell across the county.
Snowfall of 5 to 8 inches fell across the county.
Snowfall of 5 to 8 inches fell across the western half of the county while amounts of 2 to 4 inches were reported across eastern sections.
Snowfall of 4 to 6 inches fell across the county.
Snowfall of 4 to 6 inches fell across the county.
Snowfall of 4 to 8 inches fell across the county.
Snowfall of 4 to 8 inches fell across the county except for an area across the southeast part of the county where amounts were 2 to 4 inches.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, February 2015
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: 562463, 562464, 562465, 562466, 562468, 562469, 562470, 562472, 562473, 562475, 562476, 562477, 562479.