Blizzard and Winter Storm in Kansas, January 4 to 5, 2025

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as drizzle and freezing drizzle followed by freezing rain and sleet before transitioning to snow. Russell Municipal Airport measured a flat ice accumulation of 0.66 inches. The highest storm total snowfall was 12.5 inches in Lucas. Visibilities were reduced to under a mile after the blizzard conditions through 3PM on the 5th. The accumulated ice followed by snow created a mess on the roadways with a few slide offs along with other vehicular accidents occurred during the event which had no known injuries.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as freezing drizzle as well as freezing rain and snow with some sleet mixed in. The storm total snowfalls ranged from 8 to an estimated 15 inches of snow by law enforcement. There were some slide offs that occurred during the morning of the 4th with no known injuries.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as freezing drizzle as well as freezing rain and snow with some sleet mixed in. The storm total snowfalls ranged from 7 to 10 inches with the highest values in the southeast quadrant of the county. There were a couple slide offs along that occurred during the morning of the 4th with no known injuries.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as drizzle and freezing drizzle followed by freezing rain and sleet before transitioning to snow. A measured a flat ice accumulation of 0.63 inches was reported from the freezing drizzle and freezing rain. Storm total snowfall amounts ranged from 6 to 9 inches with the highest estimate in the far eastern portion of the county just west of Whitewater. Visibilities were reduced to under a mile after the blizzard conditions through around 4PM on the 5th. The accumulated ice followed by snow created a mess on the roadways and some slide offs along with other vehicular accidents occurred during the event; there was one suspected injury in one accident.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as freezing drizzle and snow with some sleet mixed in. The storm total snowfall was 8 inches of snow measured by law enforcement. Visibilities were reduced to around a mile after the blizzard conditions until 4:40PM on the 5th. There were some slide offs along with other vehicular accidents occurred during the event with no known injuries.

A long duration winter event included freezing drizzle and freezing rain before transitioning to snow. Emergency management measured 0.2 of an inch of ice on tree branches which was combined with sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts to 45 mph.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as freezing drizzle as well as freezing rain then sleet mixed in before transitioning over to snow. A Cooperative Observer in Kingman reported 0.8 of an inch of ice and sleet accumulation. Storm total snowfalls in the northern portion of the county were around 4 inches. The highest snowfall total was a public report in Kingman of 5 to 6 inches.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as drizzle and freezing drizzle followed by freezing rain and sleet before transitioning to snow. Hutchinson Regional Airport measured a flat ice accumulation of 0.61 inches. Law enforcement reported a storm total snowfall of 5 inches. The accumulated ice followed by snow created a mess on the roadways and several slide offs along with other vehicular accidents occurred during the event; no known injuries were relayed.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as drizzle and freezing drizzle followed by freezing rain and sleet before transitioning to snow. Colonel Jabara Airport measured a flat ice accumulation of 0.45 inches. Storm total snowfalls ranged from 3 to 5 inches. Visibilities were reduced to under a mile after the blizzard conditions which ended around 1PM in eastern portions of the county and lasted through 5PM on the 5th. The accumulated ice followed by snow created a mess on the roadways and several slide offs along with other vehicular accidents occurred during the event. Unfortunately there were two fatalities from one of the accidents at the tail end of the event.

A long duration winter event included freezing drizzle and freezing rain before transitioning to snow. The full transition to snow didn't occur until around 1PM on the 5th based on the observations from the Iola Airport. Emergency management measured 0.25 of an inch of ice on tree branches which was combined with sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts to 45 mph.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as freezing drizzle which transitioned to snow with maybe some sleet mixed in. The estimated storm total snowfall was 10 inches of snow by law enforcement. There a couple some slide offs that occurred during the morning of the 5th with no known injuries.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as freezing drizzle as well as freezing rain before mixing in snow. The storm total snowfalls ranged from 3.5 inches in the southwest corner about seven miles southwest of McPherson to 11 inches in Lindsborg. There were some slide offs that occurred during the morning of the 4th with no known injuries.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as freezing drizzle in the morning of the 4th which transitioned to snow by the morning of the 5th. The storm total snowfalls ranged from 2 to 5 inches with the highest value in the northwest corner six miles east of Whitewater. There were some slide offs along with other vehicular accidents that occurred during the event with no known injuries.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as freezing drizzle with a transition to snow and some sleet mixed in. The storm total snowfalls ranged from 8 inches in the southwest corner of the county to 10 inches in Hillsboro. Slick roadways resulted after the freezing drizzle. No known injury accidents were reported.

This was a long duration winter event which started as freezing drizzle during the morning of the 4th then changed to freezing rain and sleet before fully transitioning over to snow in the morning on the 5th. Emergency management measured 0.47 of an inch of ice on shrubs and estimated 4 to 8 inches of snow across the county. There were a few vehicular accidents on the Kansas Turnpike during the morning hours of the 4th with no apparent injuries.

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as drizzle and freezing drizzle followed by freezing rain and sleet before transitioning to snow. A measured a flat ice accumulation of 0.47 inches was reported from the freezing drizzle and freezing rain at the Salina Municipal Airport. Storm total snowfall amounts ranged from 6 to 12 inches with the highest amounts along the Interstate 70 corridor near Salina according to CoCoRaHS and law enforcement reports. Visibilities were reduced to under a mile after the blizzard conditions through around 5PM on the 5th. The accumulated ice followed by snow created a mess on the roadways, and several slide offs or other vehicular accidents occurred during the event; there was one possible injury in one accident.

A combination of freezing drizzle and freezing rain resulted in a storm total ice accretion at 0.5 of an inch which was measured by the emergency manager on shrub branches. The winds were around 15 mph during this accumulation. Roadways were slick, but no known injury accidents were reported.

There was a longer winter event including freezing drizzle and freezing rain before transitioning to snow. The full transition to snow occurred just before 10AM on the 5th based on the observations from the Chanute Martin Johnson Airport. The storm total flat ice accumulation based on the airport sensor was 0.33 of an inch which was combined with sustained winds around 15 mph which increased closer to 20 mph in the afternoon of the 5th. There is at least one known vehicular accident during the morning of the 5th with no apparent injuries.

Russell Municipal Airport had an increase in snow intensity in combination with the winds starting in the early morning hours with blizzard conditions reported for about 10 hours. Sustained northerly winds had speeds of 20 to 30 mph for this period. The peak wind gust was 49 mph which occurred at 11:35AM. Many roadways were closed due to the conditions and drifting snow.

Great Bend Municipal Airport showed an increase in snow intensity in combination with the winds starting in the morning hours with blizzard conditions reported for about nine hours. Sustained northerly winds had speeds of 20 to 30 mph for this period. The peak wind gust was 39 mph. County 911 dispatch center confirmed the reports and relayed of hazardous travel due to whiteout conditions and drifting snow; some roadways were closed.

Lyons Rice County Municipal Airport had an increase in snow intensity in combination with the winds starting in the morning hours with blizzard conditions reported for about eight hours. Many roadways were closed due to the conditions and drifting snow.

The combination of increasing snow intensity with the winds resulted in blizzard conditions beginning in the morning hours and continuing for around eight hours. There was hazardous travel on many roadways in part due to drifting snow. At least one vehicular accident was reported with a suspected injury.

The combination of increasing snow intensity with the winds resulted in blizzard conditions beginning in the morning hours and continuing for around eight hours. There was hazardous travel on many roadways in part due to drifting snow.

The combination of increasing snow intensity with the winds resulting in blizzard conditions beginning in the morning hours with blizzard conditions and continuing for around 10 hours. There was hazardous travel on many roadways in part due to drifting snow. Ambulances and other vehicles got stuck in snow drifts during this event.

Precipitation transitioned to snow around 5AM which continued to fall through the day. Moderate to heavy snow with strong northwest winds led to reduced visibilities and blizzard conditions across the county starting at 7:30AM until mid day. Winds had sustained speeds of 20 to near 30 mph with gusts of 40 to 45 mph. Snow continued to fall until 4:30PM. The storm total snowfalls ranged from 3 to near 5 inches with the highest report of 4.5 inches at McConnell Air Force Base.

Hutchinson Municipal Airport had an increase in snow intensity in combination with the winds starting in the morning hours with blizzard conditions reported for five hours. Sustained northerly winds had speeds of 15 to 25 mph for this period. The peak wind gust was 51 mph which occurred at 9:28AM.

McPherson Airport had an increase in snow intensity in combination with the winds beginning in the morning hours with blizzard conditions reported for a little over six hours. Some roadways were closed due to the conditions and drifting snow.

Salina Regional Airport reported blizzard conditions starting in the morning and continuing into the afternoon. The combination of moderate to heavy snow and strong northwest winds led to blizzard conditions for nearly six hours. A peak wind gust of 58 mph was reported at 9:33AM. The highest snowfall total was reported in Salina by law enforcement at around 12 inches.

There was an increase in snow intensity combined with wind that led to blizzard conditions at Newton City County Airport starting in the morning hours and continuing for about six hours. Sustained northerly winds had speeds of 25 to 35 mph for this period. The peak wind gust was 44 mph which occurred at 9:25AM. There was hazardous travel on many roadways in part due to drifting snow.

The combination of increasing snow intensity with the winds resulted in blizzard conditions beginning in the morning hours and continuing for nearly six hours based on surrounding reports. There was hazardous travel on many roadways in part due to drifting snow. Emergency management relayed that roads were icy with packed and drifting snow on top.

KWCH spotter reported blizzard conditions starting in the morning in northern portions of the county. The combination of increasing snow intensity with the winds continued blizzard conditions for around six hours. There was hazardous travel on many roadways in part due to drifting snow. Some vehicular accidents were reported with no apparent injuries.

The combination of increasing snow intensity with the winds resulted in blizzard conditions beginning in the morning hours and continuing for around six hours primarily in the northwest corner of the county. There was hazardous travel on roadways from drifting snow on top of ice.

Kingman Airport showed an increase in snow intensity in combination with the winds starting in the morning hours with blizzard conditions reported for around four hours. Sustained northerly winds had speeds around 15 to 20 mph. There was hazardous travel on many roadways in part due to drifting snow.