Drought conditions worsened some or remained the same, but no areas of severe drought (D2) expanded. In fact, severe drought (D2) decreased across the region.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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 worsened some or remained the same, but no areas of severe drought (D2) expanded. In fact, severe drought (D2) decreased across the region. There were a number of areas that moved back into abnormally dry (D0) and moderate drought (D1) but again no new areas of severe drought (D2).
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 29, 11:01 PM CST, 59 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 1101 PM CST Thu Feb 29 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... * Warming trend the next few days with well above average temperatures over the weekend. * Stout/gusty south winds through the weekend with the strongest expected Sunday. * Elevated grassland fire danger today, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 350 AM CST Thu Feb 29 2024 A compact and shortwave is right on the doorstep of south central KS and will continue to move northeastward across eastern Kansas this evening and tonight before moving across the Mid-Mississippi Valley by tomorrow morning. A few showers will be possible across southern and southeast KS this afternoon thru tonight. Gusty south winds have been over performing much of this morning and early afternoon which prompted a wind advisory to be issued early this afternoon. Weak ridging to zonal flow is expected in the wake of the shortwave tomorrow as we transition to more southwesterly flow aloft for the weekend as a wide based western trough sets up across the west coast to Great Basin region. As the broad western trough deepens and expand eastward this weekend, the pressure gradient over the region will increase resulting in gusty south winds. Well above normal temperatures will return for the weekend with highs in the upper 70s and low 80s which will combine with the strong and gusty winds to return fire danger to much of the area, especially for Sunday. Sunday a lead wave will eject out of the broad western trough and bring a slight chance (15%) of showers to far southeast KS. Chance for any showers or storms Sunday evening and night continue to trend down. The main concern Sunday will be elevated to critical Fire danger. The wide based trough will finally start to eject east Monday into Tuesday driving a cold front across the area. Temperatures will trend down from the upper 70s and low 80s Sunday to mid 50s and low 60s Tuesday and Wednesday. There is a lot of uncertainty in how exactly the large scale pattern evolves after Monday with lots of spread across models. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1100 PM CST Thu Feb 29 2024 An area of -RA/-IP/-SN continues to move northeast through portions of eastern KS. Minimal impacts are expected with this precipitation as VSBY are expected. Lower CIGS are building into portions of south central and southeast KS. As such, MVFR CIGS are likely, especially at HUT and ICT momentarily and at CNU by 10z. Maintained a scattered MVFR group at GBD, RSL, and SLN with lower confidence for MVFR conditions. Otherwise, CIGS will gradually improve through the late morning and afternoon hours Friday. Southerly winds will gradually decrease through the evening with speeds generally in the 10-20 kt range, gusting up to 25 kt. Wind speeds decrease into the 10-15 kt range for much of the daytime hours Friday. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 225 PM CST Thu Feb 29 2024 Very high to extreme (Barton/Russell) will continue through early evening as gusty south winds continue across the area with min RH of 17-22%. Very high fire danger is expected for portions of the area Saturday and Monday, however the more concerning day will be Sunday. Extreme fire danger is expected across the majority of central, south central, and southeast KS with portions of the Flint Hills region dipping into the catastrophic category. Afternoon high temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s will combine with min RH values of 15 to 30% and with strong south winds of 25-30 mph with gusts to 50 mph. && .CLIMATE... Issued at 350 AM CST Thu Feb 29 2024 Sunday could be another record setting high temperature day with Wichita being the closest site to reach it. Please see below for greater detail. Record High Temperature Information for Sunday, March 3rd: Site: Record/Year: Forecast High Temperature: Wichita 80 (1994) 79 Salina 81 (1986) 78 Chanute 84 (1901) 81 Russell 79 (2018) 75 && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && DISCUSSION...KMB AVIATION...BMB FIRE WEATHER...KMB CLIMATE...VJP
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wichita KS 815 PM CST Thu Feb 29 2024 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-020215- 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- 815 PM CST Thu Feb 29 2024 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of Central Kansas, South Central Kansas and Southeast Kansas. .DAY ONE...Tonight A light wintry mix of rain, snow, and sleet will continue overnight across portions of south central and southeast Kansas. No accumulation or travel impacts are expected. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Very high fire danger is expected for portions of the area Saturday and Monday, however the more concerning day will be Sunday. Sunday, extreme fire danger is expected across the majority of central, south central, and southeast KS with catestrophic fire danger possible across the Flint Hills. Strong south winds with wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph are forecast for Saturday night into Sunday evening in southeast Kansas. A stray thunderstorm cannot be ruled out over far southeast Kansas Monday evening. Strong or severe storms are not 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.
8 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Drought conditions improved some with the southeast portions of the county improving to moderate drought (D1). There remains a small areas still in severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions improved some with the northern portions of the county improving to moderate drought (D1). There remains a small area in the northeast portions of the county that are still in severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions improved some with the southwestern portions of the county improving to moderate drought (D1). There remains a small area in the west central area of the county that are still in severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions remained the same with the northwestern areas of the county remaining in severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions remained the same in the county with the northwestern areas of the county in severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions remained the same in the county with the southwestern areas of the county in severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions remained the same in the county with the southeastern areas of the county in severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions improved with the southern areas of the county improving to moderate drought (D1), but the north and northeast areas of the county remain in severe drought (D2).
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, March 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: 1163002, 1163003, 1163004, 1163005, 1163006, 1163007, 1163008, 1163009.