Drought conditions across the area improved across the board. In some areas there was significant improvement from severe drought (D2) to abnormally dry (D0).
Every event with a place to put it; 22 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 ICT wrote it up.
Drought conditions across the area improved across the board. In some areas there was significant improvement from severe drought (D2) to abnormally dry (D0). Only a handful of counties in Central Kansas remain in extreme drought at the end of December 2023.
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 Nov 30, 11:46 PM CST, 14 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 1146 PM CST Thu Nov 30 2023 .KEY MESSAGES... * Widespread rain spreading north late today and this evening, ending later tonight through Friday morning, scattered thunderstorms may impact southeast Kansas this evening. * Potential for a light wintry mix tonight through Friday morning, mainly along and northwest of a line from Great Bend to Salina to Manhattan. * After a brief lull, another round of a light wintry mix may impact parts of central KS on Friday afternoon with little or no accumulation. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 232 PM CST Thu Nov 30 2023 A negatively tilted trough over the Southern Rockies is progged to lift northeast across the Southern High Plains today before arriving over the Middle Mississippi Valley area early on Friday. Steep mid- level lapse rates will accompany this negatively tilted trough and with some modest elevated CAPE, we expect to see a round of thunderstorms impacting southeast Kansas this evening and tonight. North and west of this convection we anticipate a broad deformation zone developing where moderate rain will overspread the region. As the near sfc layer temperatures cool to 3C or lower toward 06Z we may begin to see a wintry mix impact portions of central Kansas as the H5 trough axis lifts northeast of the area and a deformation zone develops on the back side of the system. The ECMWF EFI (extreme forecast index) for QPF is in the .6 to .7 range suggesting the potential for another robust precipitation event while supporting the EPS/GEFS upward trend in qpf for this event with values in the .75-1.00 inch range across southern Kansas. Precipitable water values are progged to climb to just over 1 inch over southern KS which is well over the 90th percentile for OUN for late Nov/early Dec and near the daily max also supporting the more robust qpf forecasts. When looking at the snowfall, the signal isn't that strong with a .5 EFI. Any transition to snow is expected to be relatively brief and some of the models are showing a lack of ice late tonight but confidence in this scenario remains low as we expect to see ice introduced aloft within the deformation zone/weak trowal signature that is elongated on the northwest side of the negatively tilted trough. As the previous shift noted, uncertainty remains within a marginal thermal field which should ultimately limit impacts and a winter weather headline is not planned at this time. Some low pops were maintained across mainly central KS during the day on Friday as a more subtle shortwave trough impacts the area in the afternoon hours which could result in another round of light snow or a light wintry mix. Little if any accumulation is anticipated with this activity. Sat-Sun...As the mean larger-scale mid/upper trough axis moves through the region on Saturday and Saturday evening we could see another brief round of light precipitation. The NBM was dry so an afternoon sprinkle/flurries mention was included across our central KS counties on Sat afternoon. Limited insolation and weak caa will keep highs below normal ranging from the upper 30s in central KS to the low 50s in southeast KS. Northwest mid/upper flow will prevail in the wake of this system with light WNW low level flow on Sun. Dry weather conditions are anticipated with moderating temperatures. Seasonable values are expected with highs climbing into the 50s. Mon-Thu...A warming trend is anticipated as we move through the upcoming week. There is some uncertainty on Tuesday as a cooler airmass is forced southward in the wake of a clipper system but rising heights/increasing thickness will follow leading to a warming trend Wed-Thu. Above normal values are expected with highs in the mid 60s by the end of the period. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1136 PM CST Thu Nov 30 2023 Concerns: 1) Precipitation exiting - rain and snow 2) IFR in southern Kansas to VFR conditions in northern Kansas 3) Breezy winds Precipitation continues to wrap around the low pressure system and remains on target to exit in the next couple of hours. There has been a mix of rain and snow at KGBD and KSLN with rain to the south. Only minor accumulation on grassy surfaces is anticipated if any. The rest of the sites have remained in the rain given the temperature profile. Ceilings should improve late today from west to east through the day with a lag for KCNU given low level moisture. While there is a slight chance of an additional wrap around precipitation on Friday, confidence remains low in occurrence thus it was kept out for now. Breezy winds overnight will diminish in the morning then be light and variable at the end of the period. && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && DISCUSSION...MWM AVIATION...VJP
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wichita KS 438 PM CST Thu Nov 30 2023 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-012245- 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- 438 PM CST Thu Nov 30 2023 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of Central Kansas, South Central Kansas and Southeast Kansas. .DAY ONE...Tonight Widespread rain with embedded thunderstorms will spread northeast this evening, gradually exiting northeast late tonight. Strong or severe storms are not expected. A light wintry mix may impact parts of central Kansas, mainly along and northwest of a line extending from Great Bend to Salina to Manhattan. Slushy snow accumulations up to an inch may be possible, along with a very light glaze of ice which could produce a few slick spots, especially on elevated roads and bridges. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday A light wintry mix may linger across central Kansas Friday morning, with patchy slick roads possible. After a brief break a few snow showers may develop on Friday afternoon but little or no accumulation is expected. A few sprinkles or flurries could impact central Kansas on Saturday afternoon and evening with little or no impacts expected. .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.
22 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) in the northwestern parts of the county. The remainder of the county maintained moderate drought (D1).
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) in the western half of the county. The remainder of the county stayed in severe drought (D2) and extreme drought (D3) in the far southeast corner of the county.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) in the northern parts of the county and from severe drought (D2) to moderately dry (D0) in the remaining parts of the county.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) in all parts of the county.
Drought conditions improved from extreme drought (D3) to severe drought (D2) in the eastern half of the county. The western half of the county improved from extreme drought (D3) to moderate drought (D1).
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) in all parts of the county during the month of December.
Drought conditions improved from extreme drought (D3) to severe drought (D2) in the southeast portions of the county. The remaining areas of the county improved from extreme drought (D3) to moderate drought (D1) during the month of December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from extreme drought (D3) to severe drought (D2) in the extreme northwestern portions of the county. The remaining areas did not improve and remained in either extreme drought (D3) or severe drought (D2) during the month of December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to abnormally dry (D0) in all parts of the county during the month of December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to abnormally dry (D0) in all parts of the county during the month of December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from extreme drought (D3) to severe drought (D2) in the western areas of the county with the remaining areas showing now improvement. The remaining areas maintained either extreme drought (D3) or severe drought (D2) in the month of December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) in all areas of the county for December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) in the eastern half of the county. The western half of the county remained in severe drought (D2) for December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from extreme drought (D3) to severe drought (D2) in the northwestern areas of the county. The remainder of the western half of the county improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1). The eastern half of the county remained in moderate drought (D1) for December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from extreme drought (D3) to severe drought (D2) in the northeastern areas of the county. The remaining areas of the county did not improve and stayed in extreme drought (D3), severe drought (D2), moderate drought (D1) or abnormally dry (D0) for December 2023.
Drought conditions showed no improvement and remained in extreme drought (D3) county wide for December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from extreme drought (D3) to severe drought (D2) in all areas of the county except the north central areas. The north central area of the county improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) for December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) in the eastern half of the county. The western half of the county remained in severe drought (D2) for December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to abnormally dry (D0). The western areas improved from moderate drought (D1) to abnormally dry (D0) for December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to abnormally dry (D0) in the northeastern areas of the county. The remaining areas of the county improved to abnormally dry (D0) or no drought condition for December 2023.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) most areas of the county with only the extreme southwestern areas of the county remaining in severe drought (D2) for November 2023.
Drought conditions improved from severe drought (D2) to moderate drought (D1) in the northern areas of the county. The remaining parts of the county remained in either moderate drought (D1) or abnormally dry (D0) for December 2023.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, December 2023
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: 1147979, 1147980, 1147983, 1147984, 1147985, 1147986, 1147987, 1147989, 1147990, 1147994, 1147996, 1147997, 1147998, 1148002, 1148003, 1148005, 1148007, 1148009, 1148012, 1148023, 1148024, 1148025.