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Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 GID wrote it up.
Mainly between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on this Saturday, a sneaky mesoscale snow band materialized along a narrow, southwest-northeast oriented axis from northwest Kansas into south central Nebraska, slicing across primarily the northwest half of Phillips County in this North Central Kansas area along the way. Based on limited ground-truth reports from social media along with NOHRSC analysis, this band dumped generally 2-5 inches of slushy/wet snow within northern and western Phillips County...including 5.0 five miles north-northwest of Logan, and 4.5 about halfway between Phillipsburg and Prairie View. Totals dropped off considerably in eastern/southern sections of Phillips County along with northwestern Smith County, with a CoCoRaHS observer six miles east of Phillipsburg receiving only 0.8. Although amounts in the heart of the band solidly exceeded forecast expectations of 1 or less, impacts were held in check, due in part to very light winds only around 5 MPH. Even where the heaviest amounts fell, snow cover did not last very long, with some of it melting already on the afternoon of the 2nd after precipitation ended (temperatures rose to 35-40 degrees F), and the remainder disappearing on the 3rd (high temps 45-50 F).
As for the meteorological background and event timing, and starting in the mid-upper levels, the main player was a broad shortwave trough that traversed the heart of the Central Plains from west-to-east during the calendar day of the 2nd. Looking into the lower levels, this mesoscale snow band was clearly tied to the development of a narrow stripe of frontogenesis particularly evident between 700-850 millibars. The final light snow bands/flurries of the day faded away within and/or departed North Central Kansas between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 2, 5:52 AM CST, 1 hour 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Hastings NE 552 AM CST Sat Dec 2 2023 ...Aviation Update... .DISCUSSION...(Today through Friday) Issued at 415 AM CST Sat Dec 2 2023 Key Messages: * Forecast remains on track for a minor band of snow to bring the potential (30-50% chance) for up to around a half inch of accumulation today, mainly in the 6AM to 4PM time frame. This could lead to a couple hours of slick roads, mainly this morning * Low end chances (20-30%) for rain/snow mix have been added to the forecast for Sunday with another brief disturbance, mainly for areas N and E of the Tri-Cities. However, the more widespread weather aspect will be gusty NW winds of 30-40 MPH. * Main story for the new work week will be steadily rising temperatures...becoming unseasonably warm by Wed and Thu with highs in the upper 50s to upper 60s! Forecast Details: Quick look at the "big picture" early this morning reveals a broad upper trough with main axis running N/S along Rockies/High Plains region. Subtropical ridging is noted over the Caribbean, nosing into the Gulf of Mexico, with seasonably fast SWrly upper flow noted between the trough/ridge. Several shortwaves/vorticity maxima can be seen within the broader trough, with our next weather maker for today ejecting NE from CO into NW KS. This wave will try to deepen/phase with another small piece of energy near Salt Lake City and produce a small/narrow swath of minor snow today (see next paragraph for more details). Yet another shortwave can be seen moving onshore the Pac NW that will quickly slide SE and affect the region on Sunday. Overall, this pattern is not too dissimilar to 24 hrs ago when today's wave was also just moving onshore the Pac NW. This pattern is not uncommon with strong and persistent "atmospheric river" events where several vorticity maxima/shortwaves are embedded within a strong upper jet - which can be difficult for the models to get a handle on more than 24 hrs in advance due to small/compact nature, quick movement, and lower density obs over Pacific Ocean. This explains the addition of precipitation chances for Sunday (see third paragraph), which was alluded to as a possibility in yesterday AMs AFD. As for today's minor snow band...again not a lot of changes to the forecast with this package. Radar returns have been steadily incr over NW KS over the past hr and expect this trend to continue as the wave shifts NE through the day today. Will take some time to saturate the lower levels given sfc dew points only in the teens, but once that occurs, forecast soundings suggest the potential for a couple hours of a "burst" in intensity within a relatively narrow SW to NE corridor. Areas with greatest risk (30-50% chance) for minor snow accums of dusting to half inch look to be 30 miles on either side of a line from around Alma to Central City. The timing, along with potential brief bursts of moderate snow, could lead to some slick roadways mainly this morning when temps are coldest. Temps are forecast to rise into at least mid 30s to around 40 areawide (perhaps mid 40s far W), which should limit impacts for the aftn hrs. Wind will be modest today out of the S at only 5-15 MPH. Certainly not a situation where folks should cancel plans today, but wouldn't hurt to allow for extra time this morning, particularly for areas around Tri-Cities and to the SW. Yet another disturbance will slide through the area on Sunday, though this time with more of a NW to SE track as the broader upper trough axis slides into the MS River Valley. This wave has a very compact, but potent, look to it on satellite this AM, and models have generally trended stronger with it over past 24 hrs. As such, have introduced some low end 20-30% precipitation chcs for areas mainly N and E of the Tri-Cities to account for this. Looks like precipitation type could be a mix of rain and snow, depending on precipitation intensity and exact timing. With more of a midday or aftn timing and temps generally at least a couple deg warmer than today, favor the idea of more rain than snow, and thus currently do not have any snow accumulations for Sunday with this forecast and currently not expecting any travel impacts. Precip chcs with this wave favor NE portions of the forecast area, but a much broader sensible weather aspect will be strong NWrly wind gusts of 30 to 40 MPH, perhaps locally up to around 45 MPH. So even though temps may be a bit warmer than today, its not going to be anymore pleasant bc of the wind. What WILL BE more pleasant is the weather for the upcoming work week, particularly in the Wed-Thu time frame. Models remain consistent that temps will steadily warm over the next several days, likely peaking Wed into Thu with highs across the board in the upper 50s to upper 60s...which is easily 15 to 20 deg above normal for early Dec. There will be some breeze to accompany the warmup, particularly on Thu, but really not that bad by Dec standards as gusts are forecast to peak mostly below 30 MPH. While not a glaring concern at this time, wouldn't be surprised to see at least some elevated fire weather concerns with the warmup, as well, at least for far SW/W counties (like Furnas to Rooks). Ensembles are in general agreement that temps will decr late next week into next weekend, though there remains significant differences w/r/t the rate/magnitude of cooling. Broadly speaking, there are hints of a potentially more active wintry weather period towards the 10th, or so, of the month, which could may garner some social media attention given dearth of active weather between now and then. Take any specific info you may see regarding that time frame with a giant grain of salt, though, as any potential system is likely at least a week (7+ days) away and much can (and will) change in the modeling over that time. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z KGRI/KEAR TAFS through 12Z Sunday) Issued at 550 AM CST Sat Dec 2 2023 Today: Main concern is the potential for band of lgt snow and reductions to MVFR conditions. Main time frame of potential is 16-17Z through 21-22Z. Have CIGs down into the 2-3K ft range and VSBYs at 6sm...though further reductions can't be ruled out, at least briefly. Winds will be fairly lgt at 7-10kt out of S-SW. Confidence: Medium. Tonight: Incr CIGs and decr clds expected this evening. Winds will veer from SSW to W but remain lgt at around 5-8kt. Some guidance indicates potential for at least patchy fog late in the period, but with generally unfavorable Wrly wind direction and limited agreement in guidance, held off on including any formal groups at this time. Confidence: Medium. && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. KS...NONE. && DISCUSSION...Thies AVIATION...Thies
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Hastings NE 316 AM CST Sat Dec 2 2023 KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087- 031200- Phillips-Smith-Jewell-Rooks-Osborne-Mitchell-Valley-Greeley-Nance- Sherman-Howard-Merrick-Polk-Dawson-Buffalo-Hall-Hamilton-York- Gosper-Phelps-Kearney-Adams-Clay-Fillmore-Furnas-Harlan-Franklin- Webster-Nuckolls-Thayer- 316 AM CST Sat Dec 2 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for south central Nebraska and portions of north central Kansas. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight. A band of light snow will develop between 6 AM and 4 PM on Saturday. There is a 30 to 50 percent chance of minor accumulation of around a half inch, or less, with this snow band, possibly leading to an hour or two of slick roads where the heavier snow showers develop. The most favored corridor is along and south of the Platte River and along and north of Highway 36. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed through tonight. && More information may be obtained at the following web page: https://www.weather.gov/hastings Thies
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Social media snowfall reports included 5.0 inches five miles north-northwest of Logan, and 4.5 roughly halfway between Phillipsburg and Prairie View.
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: 1146753.