A cold front moved through the area during the early morning hours and produced gusty north winds.
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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 DDC wrote it up.
A cold front moved through the area during the early morning hours and produced gusty north winds.
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 Mar 5, 11:30 AM CST, 10 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Dodge City KS 1130 AM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 ...Updated Short Term... .SHORT TERM...(This afternoon through Tuesday) Issued at 1130 AM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 Intense NW winds have overspread SW KS as of midday, with gusts mainly in the 40-55 mph range (just short of high wind warning criteria). Main core of intense winds aloft coming into SW KS presently, off the higher terrain of west central Kansas, showing up nicely on satellite imagery as a dust plume heading towards Garden City and Dodge City areas. Some gusts near 60 mph will remain possible for a few more hours (until about 2 pm) until the gradient starts to relax some. Given satellite trends and the ongoing drought, maintained areas of blowing dust in the grids. Very dry boundary layer air is being compressed dry adiabatically as it descends from the the higher terrain to the NW, so temperatures will easily rise through the 50s this afternoon. Tonight...Surface winds will rapidly relax after sunset, but strong NW winds will persist aloft (40-60 kts at 850 mb). Tonight's temperatures will be a function of radiational cooling of a very dry airmass, and mixing provided by the wind. Aimed for the middle of the guidance on this, with lows in the 20s. Tuesday...Even windier, if you can believe that. Upgraded inherited high wind watch to a high wind warning, and continued to exclude the SW counties where the pressure gradients will be weaker (further removed from the intense 526 dm upper low in western Iowa Tuesday morning). Wind guidance continues to be impressive for Tuesday, even for a windy place like SW KS, as models pick up on a shortwave/vorticity max swinging around the backside of the Iowa cyclone, passing through SW KS during the morning and midday hours. Much like we are seeing today, the strongest gradient will be during the morning/midday hours, before diminishing during the afternoon hours. With winds at 850 mb progged to be near 60 mph as the boundary layer is mixed, gusts of this magnitude can be expected. Cold air advection on Tuesday will drop 850 mb temperatures to near 0C, with temperatures struggling to get into the lower 50s during the afternoon. Maintained blowing dust in the grids through Tuesday afternoon. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday through Sunday) Issued at 321 AM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 Tuesday, the upper level shortwave moves east and the surface pressure gradient strengthens. Deep mixing continues Tuesday. All of this sets up surface wind to become even stronger than Monday. After collaboration with neighboring offices, went ahead and put much of the area in a High Wind Watch. In addition, relative humidities don't improve, and therefore we'll have another day where fire weather will be of major concern. Highs Tuesday will be in the 50s. Wednesday, upper level northwest flow dominates, allowing high pressure to move in. Finally, we will have a break from the wind. Highs Wednesday will once again reach into the 50s. We'll have a warming trend to end the week. And this weekend, a shortwave dives into the High Plains. While latest models disagree on the track of this system, they are trending towards rain missing miss Southwest Kansas once again. It's still many days out... we'll keep our fingers crossed. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Tuesday afternoon) Issued at 1100 AM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 VFR/SKC will continue through this TAF cycle, with patchy areas of blowing dust perhaps reducing visibility locally. With a dust plume evident on satellite imagery north of GCK, included a TEMPO group for BLDU in the GCK 18z TAF. Strong winds will impact aviation operations through Tuesday. Expect NW winds to average 25-35 kts this afternoon at all airports, with gusts in the 45 kt range. After sunset (00z Tue) winds at the surface will weaken significantly, but intense NW winds will persist aloft overnight (NW 850 mb winds of 40-60 kts). Included associated LLWS in all TAFs. After 15z Tue, NW winds will reintensity rapidly, averaging 30-40 kts with gusts near 50 kts. The strongest winds are expected at HYS (in the strongest pressure gradient) and DDC, with slightly less wind at GCK and LBL. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DDC 59 26 53 20 / 0 0 0 0 GCK 55 25 50 18 / 0 0 0 0 EHA 55 21 53 21 / 0 0 0 0 LBL 56 22 54 18 / 0 0 0 0 HYS 54 29 47 20 / 0 0 0 0 P28 63 29 55 23 / 0 0 0 0 && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning until 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ this evening for KSZ030-031-043>046-061>063. High Wind Warning from 9 AM CST /8 AM MST/ to 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ Tuesday for KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-076>081-087>090. Red Flag Warning until 9 PM CST /8 PM MST/ this evening for KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090. Red Flag Warning from 9 AM CST /8 AM MST/ to 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ Tuesday for KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090. && SHORT TERM...Turner LONG TERM...Reynolds AVIATION...Turner
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Dodge City KS 504 AM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-061115- 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- 504 AM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 /404 AM MST Mon Mar 5 2018/ This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...south central...southwest and west central Kansas. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Day 1 Discussion ---------------- Fire weather will be a major concern through Tuesday. Today, a Red Flag Warning is in effect through tonight due to very strong wind and low relative humidities. See (TOPRFWDDC) for details. Due to these strong winds, an High Wind warning is in effect today. Highest impacted area will be along the I-70 corridor. The See TOPNPWDDC for details. Day 1 Hazards ------------- * Non-thunderstorm wind: Significant risk * Fire weather: Significant risk .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Days 2-7 Discussion ------------------- Tuesday, fire weather concerns increase as the surface pressure gradient increases, aiding in even stronger winds than Monday and low relative humidities. A Fire Weather Watch is in effect tomorrow. In addition, a High Wind Watch has been issued for much of the area. Wednesday, we finally get a break from the wind. Days 2-7 Hazards ---------------- * Tuesday - Non thunderstorm wind: Significant risk - Fire weather: Significant risk * Wednesday No hazards. * Thursday No hazards. * Friday No hazards. * Saturday - Non thunderstorm wind: Limited risk - Fire weather: Elevated risk * Sunday No hazards. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed through tonight. && For more details visit our webpage http://weather.gov/ddc/ehwo
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The wind was measured at the Garden City airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, March 2018
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: 747941.