A tightened pressure gradient led to strong winds across Kansas with the peak hitting above 60 mph in north central Kansas in the early evening hours.
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The episode as NWS ICT wrote it up.
A tightened pressure gradient led to strong winds across Kansas with the peak hitting above 60 mph in north central Kansas in the early evening hours.
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 Feb 27, 3:20 PM CST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 320 PM CST Tue Feb 27 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... * Very high to extreme grassland fire danger continuing for the next few hours. * Much colder air continues to filter in behind the front with light snow and a wintry mix possible this evening thru early tomorrow morning from north central to southeast Kansas. * Windy and warm weather returning late week into the weekend with additional elevated grassfire danger Thursday, Saturday, and especially Sunday. * 25-35% chances for showers and storms Sunday evening into early Monday && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 320 PM CST Tue Feb 27 2024 Main concern in the short term is the critical fire danger today continuing to combine with strong winds ahead and behind a stout cold front which is moving SE across the area. Any fire that ignites may be difficult to put out. A wind advisory and red flag warning remain in effect. The front has made it as far south of Wichita and continues to work SSE. Record high temperatures have been reached at ICT and CNU in the 80s meanwhile, central KS has already fallen into the low 40s behind the cold front. Currently a deep trough is tracking across the Plains states driving the strong cold front across the area. Strong south and southwest winds will continue in southern/southeast KS ahead of the front before winds switch around to the north as the cold front passes. Hi- res model solutions and bufkit soundings continue to support exceptional mixing heights upwards of 700mb which could help realize 55mph+ wind gust or two this afternoon across southern KS. Otherwise expect sustained wind speeds of 25 to 40 mph with gusts up to 50 mph, both ahead of and behind the cold front. The significant push of post-frontal cold air will come toward this evening and overnight. There is still marginal support for a quick hitting bout of snow/wintry mix from Russell to Chanute. Best chances remain NE of the area. No snow accumulations expected at this time. Temperatures tomorrow morning will deliver a shocking chill compared to afternoon highs and record temperatures today. Overnight low will range from the upper teens in central KS to the low and mid 20s across south central and southeast KS. With post-frontal winds still remaining somewhat elevated by morning, wind chills will drop to 5 to 10 degrees. As the main trough pushes east tomorrow morning, breezy conditions will remain across southeast KS until high pressure filters in over the area by early afternoon and evening. As we head into Thursday a compact shortwave will move out of New Mexico and into the Central Plains late Thursday afternoon and evening which could bring a quick round of showers and a few storms to the area. Increased southerly winds ahead of this next system will combine with RH values of 20-25% to return very high fire danger to areas west of the Flint Hills. Weak ridging to zonal flow is expected in the wake of Thursdays brief system with a wide based western trough setting up across the west coast to Great Basin region. The broad western trough will continue to deepen and expand eastward through the weekend, bringing southwest flow aloft and ramping up the pressure gradient over the Central Plains. Well above normal temperatures will return for the weekend with highs in the upper 70s and low 80s. Expect fire danger to resume for the weekend. As the trough ejects out, showers and storms (20-35%) may return late Sunday night into early Monday. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1148 AM CST Tue Feb 27 2024 Concerns: 1) Strong winds ahead of and behind afternoon-eve cold front 2) Precip potential for SLN and CNU this evening The cold front continues advancing southward with a direction change in the wind from southwest to north. Ahead of the front, winds have been increasing as the mixed layer deepens. Winds are expected to reach 25-30 knots, with gusts approaching 45 knots in some locations, particularly behind the front a couple of hours after frontal passage. Winds will decrease toward morning. There remains a small chance of precipitation this evening for SLN and CNU. This will mainly be a mix to snow. At this time, we do not expect any accumulation and have rather low confidence in it being anymore than a brief nuisance. There remains some potential for some post frontal lower VFR stratus (4-7k ft) during the morning hours until around 9Z. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 320 PM CST Tue Feb 27 2024 Very high to extreme fire danger continues this afternoon and early evening ahead of and behind the strong cold front currently moving across the area. The highest fire danger expected to continue across south central and southeast Kansas. Minimum relative humidities of 20% with wind speeds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts to 50+ mph are continuing. Elevated concerns remain for any fire that starts before the arrival of the front will change directionally once it arrives. Very high grassland fire danger is expected to return Thursday and again Saturday and Sunday with breezy southerly winds and above normal temperatures. Extreme grassland fire danger could be touched on Sunday along and east of the Flint Hills. && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until 3 AM CST Wednesday for KSZ032-033-047>053- 067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100. Red Flag Warning until 8 PM CST this evening for KSZ047- 050>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100. && DISCUSSION...KMB AVIATION...KRC/VJP FIRE WEATHER...VJP CLIMATE...VJP
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wichita KS 401 PM CST Tue Feb 27 2024 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-282215- 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- 401 PM CST Tue Feb 27 2024 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of Central Kansas, South Central Kansas and Southeast Kansas. .DAY ONE...Tonight Very high to extreme grassland fire danger is in place through early this evening. Strong west winds continue to turn northerly with the passing of a strong cold front. Winds both ahead of and behind the cold front will be strong with gusts of 40 to 50 mph likely. See the latest red flag warning and wind advisory for additional details. A brief period of light snow and potentially ice pellets is anticipated this evening in portions of north central to southeast Kansas generally from Barton County to Neosho County. Minimal if any snow accumulation is expected. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday Very high grassland fire danger returns Thursday and again Saturday through Monday. On Sunday afternoon, a period of extreme grassland fire danger is forecast along the Flint Hills and points west. Strong winds with potential gusts to 45 mph are possible in north central Kansas on Thursday. .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
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Wichita KS
345 PM CST Tue Feb 27 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
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..REMARKS..
0237 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst Russell Airport 38.87N 98.82W
02/27/2024 M55 MPH Russell KS ASOS
ASOS station KRSL Russell Municipal Airport.
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Wichita KS
346 PM CST Tue Feb 27 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0330 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 W Canton 38.38N 97.44W
02/27/2024 M52 MPH McPherson KS Mesonet
Mesonet station UP317 0.8 W Canton (UPR).
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Wichita KS
500 PM CST Tue Feb 27 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0354 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 3 E Hutchinson 38.07N 97.87W
02/27/2024 M54 MPH Reno KS ASOS
ASOS station KHUT Hutchinson Municipal
Airport.
&&
JCThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Russell Municipal Airport measured a gust to 61 mph. The sensor reported a gust to 55 mph in the mid afternoon as well.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, February 2024
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: 1165212.