A system brought a range of snowfall across the central portions of Kansas on 25th with six to eight inches reported in Russell and Lincoln counties to around an inch in northwest Sedgwick County.
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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 system brought a range of snowfall across the central portions of Kansas on 25th with six to eight inches reported in Russell and Lincoln counties to around an inch in northwest Sedgwick County.
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 24, 11:36 PM CST, 2 hours 59 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 1136 PM CST Sun Jan 24 2021 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Wednesday night) Issued at 203 PM CST Sun Jan 24 2021 A mid/upper trough over the Desert Southwest is progged to lift northeast over the Southern Rockies tonight before emerging across the Southern and Central Plains states on Monday. Large-scale forcing for ascent will spread downstream across the area tonight with increasing chances for rain and a wintry mix as we move through the period. Widespread precipitation will become likely across the region shortly after midnight within the diffluent flow ahead of the incoming shortwave trough. Rain and a wintry mix will gradually become all snow across central Kansas during the predawn and early morning hours on Monday as the column rapidly cools when the more vigorous upward vertical motion arrives. Periods of heavy snow are likely during the morning hours along the I-70 corridor. Temperatures are expected to remain relatively flat tonight as we remain within a post-frontal east/northeasterly flow regime. We continue to see thermal differences in the column but have trended the forecast towards the cooler sfc wet bulb profiles we see in the HREF/RAP13/NAM12 and ECMWF while the GFS remains quit a bit warmer in the sfc layer. Trending hourly temperatures toward the cooler group of guidance resulted in only minor changes to the previous forecast when it comes to precipitation phase but allowed us to upgrade the winter storm watch into a winter storm warning for all of the remaining counties expect for McPherson where a winter weather advisory will be in effect. Much of Rice county may only receive advisory level conditions but there remains some concern that the far northwest corner may be in a more favorable region for warning criteria. We expect another sharp gradient between several inches of snow and little or no snowfall on Monday. When looking at the various NCEP SREF/GEFS and WPC Super ensemble plume viewers as well as their previous runs we continue to see overwhelming support for an upward trend in snow accumulation across our central KS counties. This seems reasonable given what appears to be a developing trowal airstream and persistent area of mid-level frontogenesis impacting our central KS counties. Time/Height X- sections are also indicative of a large and intense band of snow impacting that region supporting the significant snow that we have in the current forecast. As the previous shift noted, some transient areas of sleet and freezing rain may mix in, especially tonight and early in the period on Monday but the bulk of activity is expected to be rain/snow. The window where we expect the most intense snowfall rates will be during the morning hours on Monday or between 12Z-17Z before the activity slowly tapers off later in the day with only a few flurries lingering into the evening and overnight hours. Tue-Wed...A progressive pattern will drive another shortwave trough over the Rockies early on Tue bringing another round of light snow to much of the area impacted by the previous snowfall late Tue through early Wednesday. Light snow accumulations will remain possible with much of central Kansas struggling to climb out of the 20s with below normal temperatures prevailing across the forecast area. .LONG TERM...(Thursday through Sunday) Issued at 203 PM CST Sun Jan 24 2021 Rising heights/increasing thickness will support moderating temperatures as we move through the remainder of the work- week with above normal temperatures returning to the region, although those with a significant snowpack will likely remain significantly cooler to those who remain snow-free. Maintained some pops towards the weekend as a shortwave trough impacts the area on Sat. A pacific front will usher in slightly cooler air in it's wake with seasonably mild temperatures anticipated on Sun with highs in the 40s and 50s. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Monday night) Issued at 1130 PM CST Sun Jan 24 2021 IFR and LIFR conditions will dominate the region at all terminals through this TAF period. KICT and KCNU will be the lucky ones with primarily rain with some snow possibility mixing in at KICT. KHUT will be the mostly likely terminal to have a predominate mix of wintry precip through the night. KSLN, KRSL and KGBD will bear the brunt of the snow and sleet. VLIFR conditions are likely at these locations toward dawn. By the late afternoon, most terminals will start to see the precipitation abate and MVFR conditions return. VFR conditions are not expected to return until the end of the this TAF period or after. Metzger && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Wichita-KICT 36 37 21 33 / 90 60 0 0 Hutchinson 33 33 18 29 / 90 80 0 10 Newton 33 34 19 31 / 90 70 0 0 ElDorado 36 38 22 34 / 90 60 0 0 Winfield-KWLD 39 41 24 37 / 100 50 0 0 Russell 28 29 13 22 / 90 100 20 40 Great Bend 28 30 14 23 / 90 90 10 30 Salina 32 32 16 27 / 90 100 10 10 McPherson 33 33 16 29 / 90 80 10 10 Coffeyville 43 52 26 41 / 100 40 0 0 Chanute 39 49 25 37 / 100 50 0 0 Iola 39 47 24 36 / 100 50 0 0 Parsons-KPPF 41 50 26 39 / 100 50 0 0 && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM CST Monday for KSZ051-052-067- 068. Winter Storm Warning until 6 PM CST Monday for KSZ032-033- 047>050. && SHORT TERM...MWM LONG TERM...MWM AVIATION...ELM
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wichita KS 502 PM CST Sun Jan 24 2021 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-252315- 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- 502 PM CST Sun Jan 24 2021 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of Central Kansas, South Central Kansas and Southeast Kansas. .DAY ONE...Tonight Areas of fog may impact southeast Kansas this evening with visibility reduced to less than 2 miles at times. A powerful winter storm will bring a wintry mix eventually changing to mostly snow as sunrise Monday approaches. Locations along and northwest of a line from near Lyons to Abilene will see heavy snow during the morning hours on Monday with significant accumulations expected. See the latest winter storm warning for more details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday Snow, heavy at times will impact the I-70 corridor during the morning hours on Monday. Breezy northerly winds will result in blowing and drifting snow. See the latest winter storm warning for more details. Light snow will be possible Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning with some light accumulations possible. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated tonight. && For a graphical version of this information, see our webpage at: https://weather.gov/crh/ghwo?sid=ict
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A report of eight inches of snow fell three miles southeast of Luray.
The cooperative observer at Wilson Lake measured six inches of snow which fell during the morning into early afternoon hours.
A report of six inches of snow fell according to our cooperative observer located seven miles west of Barnard.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, January 2021
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: 938320, 938321, 938318.