A strong cold front moved across the area with high wind after the frontal passaged observed.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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.
A strong cold front moved across the area with high wind after the frontal passaged observed.
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 Dec 23, 12:23 AM CST, 3 hours 37 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Dodge City KS 1223 AM CST Wed Dec 23 2020 ...Updated Long Term Discussion... .SHORT TERM...(Tonight through Wednesday evening) Issued at 1043 PM CST Tue Dec 22 2020 A strong cold front is currently making its way across the northwest parts of the CWA out of northwest Kansas and eastern Colorado bringing in gusty north winds and cold air advection with it. Expect breezy south winds to quickly turn out of the northwest behind the front with initial gusts up to 40-50 mph before increasing later in the morning as sunrise helps to aid in the mixing of the boundary layer winds to the surface with 50-60 mph possible, especially for northwestern counties where the strongest cold air advection will occur. Current short fuse models show this and feel confident in verification of wind warning criteria to be met in this part of the CWA, but not as much further south and east. Regardless, still expect a windy and blustery day ahead for Wednesday with falling temperatures struggling through the 30s all day. Increasing mid and upper level clouds will accompany the cold front but overall looks bleak with any moisture at all levels with the bulk of any precipitation well to the north into Nebraska in areas of the higher vort max with the upper level trough energy. Otherwise, expect diminishing northwest winds after sunset and clearing skies as high pressure builds back across the high plains and an upper level ridge sets back in place across the Rockies. Overnight low temperatures into Thursday morning will plummet into the teens and low 20s across the CWA due to the strong radiational cooling with diminished winds and clear skies. Expect a dry and benign weather pattern to start the long term forecast to end the work week and over the weekend before another shot of cold air and increasing precipitation chances for early next week. .LONG TERM...(Thursday through Tuesday) Issued at 1210 AM CST Wed Dec 23 2020 A quiet start to the long term forecast under the influence of northwest flow aloft and surface high pressure to the northeast. A return southerly flow around the aforementioned high pressure center will push temperatures into the mid to upper 50s across the CWA Friday and Saturday with morning lows back into the 20s under mainly clear skies. Sunday will see a cold front pass through the CWA but not as potent as the short term cold front as temperatures stay in the 40s as afternoon highs with some upper 30s sprinkled across northern counties. These colder and more seasonable temperatures will remain through the end of the period with the upper level disturbance pushing across early next week giving the next best chance at precipitation in the form of rain/snow at this time. Models are heavily inconsistent with each run and with each other, so confidence at this point is not high. Cold and more seasonable temperatures will be the story with this system as morning lows even drop into the teens for much of the CWA as well. Long term models do not show a strong wind component to the forecast as well keeping northerly winds breezy but nothing like the front during the short term period. All in all, a mainly benign weather pattern with a short turnaround to improving temperatures rebounding behind this front currently before taking another dip early next week to go along with some slim chances for precipitation. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Wednesday night) Issued at 1031 PM CST Tue Dec 22 2020 VFR conditions will prevail for the entirety of the period as a strong cold front pushes through the TAF sites early in the period by 08Z. Breezy south winds will turn out of the northwest gusting up to 30-35kts initially increasing up to 45kts after 16-18Z as cold air advection and mixing of the strong boundary layer winds to the surface. Expect increasing mid level clouds behind the cold front before clearing out towards the end of the period as high pressure builds back across the high plains. Northwest winds will start to diminish towards sunset with clearing skies and radiational cooling before becoming 10-12kts by 02-03Z through the end of the period. No other weather elements expected at this time but will likely have amendments early on as the cold front pushes through with timing of the wind switch out of the northwest. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DDC 32 39 23 44 / 0 0 0 0 GCK 29 35 20 44 / 0 0 0 0 EHA 28 37 19 48 / 0 0 0 0 LBL 30 36 20 45 / 0 0 0 0 HYS 33 37 19 39 / 10 10 0 0 P28 38 43 24 41 / 0 0 0 0 && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning from 6 AM CST /5 AM MST/ this morning to 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ this evening for KSZ030-031-043>045-061>064- 074>078. && SHORT TERM...Lowe LONG TERM...Lowe AVIATION...Lowe
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Dodge City KS 114 AM CST Wed Dec 23 2020 KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-240715- 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- 114 AM CST Wed Dec 23 2020 /1214 AM MST Wed Dec 23 2020/ This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...south central...southwest and west central Kansas. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Day 1 Discussion ---------------- A strong cold front will work its way across the viewing area early Wednesday morning giving way to strong northwest winds gusting up to 40-50 mph through mid morning. 50-60 mph gusts are possible by late morning to mid afternoon before subsiding to 10-20 mph after sunset and into the overnight hours. With the strong winds and minimum relative humidity values in the 20-30 percent range, expect fire weather risk to be elevated for much of Wednesday until winds subside after the sun goes down. Day 1 Hazards ------------- * Non-thunderstorm wind: Significant risk * Fire weather: Elevated risk .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed through tonight. && For more details visit our webpage https://weather.gov/crh/ghwo?sid=ddc
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Observed at the Johnson airport.
Observed in Elkhart.
Observed at the Syracuse airport.
Observed at the Garden City airport.
Observed in Cimarron.
Observed at a location 4 ENE of Hayne.
Observed at a location near Scott State Lake.
Observed at the Hays airport.
Observed at the Medicine Lodge airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, December 2020
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: 937063, 937064, 937065, 937066, 937067, 937068, 937069, 937070, 937071.