A slow moving upper level disturbance pushed across the CWA into the overnight hours on the 28th and throughout the day on the 29th. The heaviest snow fell at the beginning of the event.
Every event with a place to put it; 28 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 slow moving upper level disturbance pushed across the CWA into the overnight hours on the 28th and throughout the day on the 29th. The heaviest snow fell at the beginning of the event. Moist upslope flow ahead of this system allowed for some high accumulating snow, especially for southern counties stretching from Liberal to Bucklin pushing around the foot mark with areas north around 6 inches in the Dodge City area and less further north towards Hays. A winter storm warning was issued from Finney to Seward County and points east to Edwards and Comanche. All other areas were in winter weather advisories that saw less accumulations.
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 Jan 27, 10:53 PM CST, 1 hour 7 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Dodge City KS 1053 PM CST Mon Jan 27 2020 ...Updated Aviation... .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday) Issued at 315 PM CST Mon Jan 27 2020 The various models have finally come into reasonable agreement with the winter storm for tonight into Tuesday. With the development of an upper level low to our west, and track across the southern plains, this will put southwestern Kansas in a preferred location for winter precipitation. It's not very cold with this system. In fact, temperatures will be just above freezing at the onset of precip at some level between the surface and 4000 ft. Therefore, the precip may start out as rain, especially southeast, south and southwest of Dodge City. This will tend to cut down on snow totals. Even after it starts snowing, initially there will be some melting as it falls. And with wet snow, there will be settling and melting from beneath since ground temperatures aren't that cold. Bottom line is there will likely be less snow on the ground than actually falls. There is evidence that snow rates will be high at times due to steep lapse rates above the low level frontal inversion. If we do get 2 inch per hour type snows, this could easily lead to 6" + amounts quickly. In other words, if it snows hard enough and long enough, ground temperatures and preceding rain matter a whole lot less. That said, this will be a fast moving system so that these rates may not be sustained for more than an hour or two. Opted to go with a winter storm warning for 8 counties, with Finney on the northwest end and Clark on the southeast end and including Liberal, Garden City, and Dodge City. The snow will come to an end from west to east from late Tuesday morning into early afternoon. How much snow falls will have implications on temperatures. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday night through Monday) Issued at 315 PM CST Mon Jan 27 2020 Temperatures will be held down by snow cover Wednesday morning with strong, longwave radiation-based cooling over snow packed areas. In areas that keep snow cover into the afternoon, highs will be held down into the 30s, with warmer 40s elsewhere. A benign weather pattern will persist into Monday before the next upper level trough approaches from the west and cold front sweeps through Kansas on Tuesday. In between, there will be strong downslope flow on Saturday and Sunday, allowing temperatures to soar well into the 60s Saturday and to perhaps the lower 70s Sunday. It normally gets warmer than any of the models suggest in these circumstances. We haven't had many such downslope events this winter, so this weekend will seem like a major aberration, and it is well above average. But it's been warm before in mid winter. On February 1, 1951, the temperature reached 86 degrees in Dodge City, On February 2, 1902 it reached 74. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 1053 PM CST Mon Jan 27 2020 Poor flying weather is expected through this TAF forecast cycle. Widespread IFR/LIFR stratus will persist throughout the TAF period at DDC/HYS, with modest improvements to MVFR expected at GCK/LBL toward the end of the period. A widespread mix of rain and snow as shown on radar as of 0445z will transition completely to wet snow over the next few hours, with related degraded visibility. Still expect the least snow, and the least impact, at HYS, with heaviest snow amounts likely from LBL to DDC. Snow will slowly shift southeastward 12-18z Tue, such that snow is expected to end at all terminals by 21z Tue. Stratus will be slow to erode after the snow ends, particularly from DDC to HYS. NE winds 10-20 kts presently will trend more northerly through Tuesday morning, with the most wind at LBL and the least wind at HYS. Expect north wind speeds to gradually relax Tuesday afternoon, trending toward light and variable by the end of the TAF period. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DDC 29 34 19 37 / 100 100 0 0 GCK 28 36 19 42 / 100 100 0 0 EHA 29 46 18 49 / 100 70 0 0 LBL 30 43 19 45 / 100 100 0 0 HYS 29 34 20 38 / 90 100 0 0 P28 30 34 22 37 / 90 100 10 0 && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 1 PM CST /noon MST/ Tuesday for KSZ030-031-043>046-061-062-065-066-074-075-079-081-084-085-090. Winter Storm Warning until 1 PM CST Tuesday for KSZ063-064- 076>078-080-086>089. && SHORT TERM...Finch LONG TERM...Finch AVIATION...Turner
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Dodge City KS 244 AM CST Mon Jan 27 2020 KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-280845- 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- 244 AM CST Mon Jan 27 2020 /144 AM MST Mon Jan 27 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 ---------------- The next disturbance will push out of Colorado late this evening as rain changing over to a wet snow after midnight into Tuesday morning. Highest accumulations expected for southern counties along the Oklahoma state line with up to 9 inches and locally higher amounts possible. A winter storm watch has been issued and in effect for this time frame. Day 1 Hazards ------------- * Non-thunderstorm wind: Limited risk * Snow: Elevated risk .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Days 2-7 Discussion ------------------- Continued winter weather ongoing overnight into Tuesday morning tapering off west to east throughout the day. Days 2-7 Hazards ---------------- * Tuesday - Non thunderstorm wind: Limited risk - Snow: Elevated risk * Wednesday No hazards. * Thursday No hazards. * Friday No hazards. * Saturday No hazards. * Sunday No hazards. .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.
22 winter storm, 6 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall of 9.0 inches was measured in Liberal.
Snowfall of 13 inches was observed at a location 5 miles south of Sublette.
Snowfall of 13.2 inches was observed at Rolla.
Snowfall of 9 inches was observed in Plains.
Snowfall of 9 inches was observed at a location 3 miles ENE of Cave.
Snowfall of 6 inches was observed at a location 6 miles southeast of Sublette.
Snowfall of 6 inches was observed in Minneola.
Snowfall of 13 inches was observed in Satanta.
Snowfall of 12 inches was observed in in Liberal.
Snowfall of 9 inches was observed at a location 3 miles northeast of Minneola.
Snowfall of 10.5 inches was observed in Bloom.
Snowfall of 8 inches was observed at a location 7 miles north of Minneola.
Snowfall of 10 inches was observed at a location near Plains.
Snowfall of 15 inches was observed near Liberal.
Snowfall of 7.5 inches was observed in Hugoton.
Snowfall of 7 inches was observed in Ingalls.
Snowfall of 12 inches was observed at a location 4 miles ESE of Kingsdown.
Snowfall of 7 inches was observed in Mullinville.
Snowfall of 6.5 inches was observed in Greensburg.
Snowfall of 8.5 inches was observed at a location 3 miles south of Dodge City.
Snowfall of 10 inches was observed in Ford.
Snowfall of 11 inches was observed in Bucklin.
Snowfall of 5 inches was observed near Haviland.
Snowfall of 5 inches was observed in the north side of Garden City.
Snowfall of 2.5 inches was observed at a location 13 miles south of Saunders.
Snowfall of 5 inches was observed in Lakin.
Snowfall of 3.5 inches was observed at a location 11 miles SSW of Beeler.
Snowfall of 2.5 inches was observed in Scott City.
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, January 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: 874168, 874169, 874191, 874192, 874193, 874194, 874196, 874197, 874198, 874199, 874201, 874203, 874204, 874206, 874208, 874209, 874210, 874211, 874212, 874213, 874215, 874216, 874218, 874219, 874221, 874222, 874224, 874225.