Another very strong system impacted a large portions of the High Plains and Central Plains from the early morning hours to the early afternoon hours of March 19. Strong southerly winds occurred ahead of a strong approaching cold front during the early morning hours across portions of south-central and southeast Kansas.
Every event with a place to put it; 15 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.
Another very strong system impacted a large portions of the High Plains and Central Plains from the early morning hours to the early afternoon hours of March 19. Strong southerly winds occurred ahead of a strong approaching cold front during the early morning hours across portions of south-central and southeast Kansas. Then a strong cold front and strong northerly winds that accompanied it moved into central Kansas later that morning. These strong winds continued to spread southward into south-central Kansas. Meanwhile, moderate to heavy snow developed across portions of western and central Kansas and produced blizzard conditions during much of the morning and early afternoon 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 Mar 18, 6:42 PM CST, 4 hours 18 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
542 FXUS63 KICT 190042 AFDICT Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 742 PM CDT Tue Mar 18 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Potent low pressure system to bring strong winds along with snow/blowing snow to parts of central KS tonight through Wed. Blizzard conditions possible for locations along and especially north of I-70. - Strong winds and low RHs will keep fire danger in place tonight across much of the area. - Quieter weather expected after Wed with a return to more seasonal temps. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 239 PM CDT Tue Mar 18 2025 Water vapor imagery shows upper trough digging across the Eastern Great Basin and approaching the Central Rockies. At the surface, lee troughing is strengthening with a cold front extending from central IA across the KS/Nebraska border. By 06z this evening, main vort lobe associated with upper trough will be tracking across the OK/TX Panhandle and across northeast KS by 12z Wed. In response, surface low will track from Western KS into far northeast KS by 12z Wed. As far as snow goes, this system will have more of the classic deformation zone snow with the big question how far south the accumulating snow makes it. The NAM came in further south with the snow compared to the GFS with the NAM having some support from the ECMWF. So its not out of the question that locations as far as Highway 50 may see some reductions in vis due to a period of moderate snow and very high winds. Did go ahead and add a couple more counties into the Blizzard warning with a winter advisory south of the blizzard warning. Snow is expected to come to an end across the forecast area in the 18-21z time frame as this system quickly lifts off to the northeast. As far as winds go, confidence remains high that are a looking for low end warning criteria for at least areas along and west of I-135 with slightly lighter winds over southeast KS. Unlike Fridays system, this one will not have the benefit of extremely deep mixing, so most of the extreme winds will be due to gradient winds. However, still feel 60mph gusts are likely across most of central and south central KS late tonight into Wed morning. By 12z Thu, upper trough will be moving into the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley with another upper impulse tracking from the Northern Rockies and into the Central Plains by Fri morning. This feature is expected to remain far enough north to limit precip chances. Behind this wave, upper pattern will flatten out for the Fri night through Sat time frame and will allow for above normal temps for Sat. Pattern will remain very progressive with yet another shortwave trough set to swing across the Northern/Central Plains Sat night into Sun morning. While this feature may bring a few showers and storms to mainly Eastern KS Sat night, not looking for a significant event. For the start of next work week, there is good model agreement in strong northwest flow aloft in place which should allow for seasonal to above normal temps and dry conditions. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 708 PM CDT Tue Mar 18 2025 Concerns: 1) Speed shear this evening 2) Increasing winds overnight into Wed 3) MVFR to LIFR conditions with snow in central KS 4) Cold front transitioning winds to N A low pressure system will continue to track east through the Central Plains. Speed shear is possible ahead of this system in concurrence with the low level jet. A cold front should move into central Kansas from the west northwest around 6Z to switch the winds to the northerly direction and increase them to sustained speeds of 20 to near 40kts and gusts of 45 to 55kts. It is still anticipated that central and portions of south central Kansas will have the strongest winds. There could be some speed shear immediately behind the front as well across central Kansas. Precipitation moves in from west to east which will start as rain before transitioning to snow. This combined with the winds could create blizzard conditions primarily for RSL and GBD then points north and west starting around 12Z. Given the potential, it was decided to include it with this issuance. VFR conditions initially change to MVFR by 12Z for all but CNU then potentially down to LIFR with the corresponding visibility in central Kansas. However, the timing, visibility reduction and transition may need to be adjusted with upcoming issuances. There should be improvement through the afternoon into the evening with exiting precipitation and eventually decreasing winds. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 239 PM CDT Tue Mar 18 2025 Dangerous fire weather conditions to continue through the overnight time frame. Very strong northwest winds will start to overspread the area generally after 06z and after 09z for South Central KS. We are still looking for max wind gusts in the 50 to 60 mph range with a few higher gusts possible along and west of I-135. Before the colder air moves-in early Wed morning, we are still looking at RH values across south central KS into the Flint Hills in the 15-20% range. So very high to extreme fire danger will remain through most of the overnight hours across south central and southeast KS. && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 10 PM CDT this evening for KSZ032-033- 047>051. High Wind Warning from 1 AM to 7 PM CDT Wednesday for KSZ032- 033-047>053-067>069-082-083-091-092. Blizzard Warning from 4 AM to 1 PM CDT Wednesday for KSZ032- 033-047-048. Winter Weather Advisory from 7 AM to 4 PM CDT Wednesday for KSZ049>053-067-068. Red Flag Warning until 7 AM CDT Wednesday for KSZ052-053- 067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100. Wind Advisory until 7 PM CDT Wednesday for KSZ070>072-093>096- 098>100. && DISCUSSION...RBL AVIATION...VJP FIRE WEATHER...RBL
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wichita KS 1014 PM CDT Tue Mar 18 2025 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-200315- 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- 1014 PM CDT Tue Mar 18 2025 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of Central Kansas, South Central Kansas and Southeast Kansas. .DAY ONE...Tonight The red flag warning remains until 7am Wednesday for south central and southeast Kansas. Strong winds and low RH around 20 percent are expected to persist through tonight with little or no recovery in RH for south central and southeast Kansas. This will allow very high to extreme fire danger to persist through the night. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday An intense storm system will move across central and eastern Kansas on Wednesday causing strong winds from the northwest to gust between 50 and 60 mph. Additionally a band of snow is forecast to develop across central Kansas capable of producing a few inches of snow. While the snow is falling, the strong winds are likely to cause blowing snow and near zero visibilities for a period of time Wednesday morning. This led to a Blizzard Warning for Russell, Lincoln, Barton and Ellsworth counties from 4am until 1pm Wednesday. A mix of rain and snow could impact locations further south. Please see the latest winter headlines for more information. With these strong winds, High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories remain in effect for the entire area through the day Wednesday. Very high grassland fire danger is forecast from Thursday through Sunday with area wide coverage on Friday given potential wind gusts up to 40 mph. There is a slight chance for thunderstorms in southeast Kansas on Sunday morning. No severe weather is anticipated at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated tonight. && For a graphical version of this information, see our webpage at: https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=ict
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 high wind, 4 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong southwesterly winds occurred before the passage of the cold front. Winds were estimated to have gusted up to 60 mph between midnight and 1:00 AM CDT in western Harvey County.
Sustained 40 mph winds began around 2:15 AM CDT with gusts over 60 beginning around 3:00 AM CDT. A peak wind gust of 70 mph was measured at 8:06 AM CDT. Power outages caused reporting issues with the ASOS site, but based on surrounding observations, 40 mph sustained winds ended around 3:00 PM CDT.
The ASOS site at Russell Municipal Airport began reporting blizzard conditions at around 5 AM CDT. This is supported by a KWCH storm chaser in Dorrance. Social media videos showed near whiteout conditions on I-70 during the morning hours, and KDOT closed I-70 from Salina and points westward. End time around 12 PM CDT was estimated from surrounding observations as the ASOS site was knocked offline due to a power outage.
A trained spotter estimated wind gusts of 60 mph in Lincoln around 11:15 AM CDT. Timing of sustained 40 mph winds was estimated by surrounding observations and reports.
The AWOS site in Great Bend began reporting 40 mph sustained winds around 7:15 AM CDT. A peak gust of 62 mph was measured at 9:56 AM CDT. Sustained winds of 40 mph generally came to an end around 2:00 PM CDT. Additionally, power outages were reported across the county, and a tree was uprooted in Great Bend as reported by the county emergency manager.
While no reports explicitly came from within the county, surrounding observations and reports suggest sustained winds of 40 mph lasted for several hours, and wind gusts likely hit 60 mph during the late morning or early afternoon hours. Timing of high winds is estimated.
The county emergency manager reported power outages across the county along with near whiteout conditions around 8AM CDT. Additionally, Kansas State Highway 4 was closed at Hoisington and points westward due to conditions. At least sustained 35 mph winds were present at Great Bend for several hours, and likely also occurred across the rest of the county based on surrounding reports and observations.
While there were not explicit observations and reports of blizzard conditions in the county, there were several reports and observations in surrounding area that support blizzard conditions across the western portions of the county. This included I-70 being shut down from Salina and points westward along with public and KWCH reports.
While there were not explicit observations and reports of blizzard conditions in the county, there were several reports and observations in surrounding area that support blizzard conditions across the northwestern portions of the county. This included I-70 being shut down from Salina and points westward along nearby ASOS and KWCH reports.
Sustained 40 mph winds started in Lyons around 8:45 AM CDT and ended around 5:00 PM CDT. A peak wind gust of 59 mph was reported at Lyons-Rice County Municipal Airport.
While no reports explicitly came from the county, nearby observations suggest sustained 40 mph winds and wind gusts around 60 mph occurred. Timing of high winds was estimated by nearby observations.
Sustained winds of 40 mph began around 10:15 AM CDT and ended around 6:00 PM CDT. A peak wind gust of 68 mph was measured at 2:17 PM CDT at Salina Regional Airport.
While no reports explicitly came from the county, nearby observations and reports suggest sustained 40 mph winds occurred for several hours. Timing of high winds was estimated by nearby observations.
Sustained winds of 40 mph lasted from 1:30 PM CDT to 3:00 PM CDT. Wind gusts up to 60 mph were measured at Wichita Eisenhower National Airport at 1:53 PM CDT and 2:01 PM CDT.
Sustained winds of 40 mph lasted an hour between 4:00 PM CDT and 5:00 PM CDT. A peak gust of 67 mph was measured at Hutchinson Municipal Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, March 2025
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: 1249674, 1249618, 1249270, 1249653, 1249622, 1249659, 1249277, 1249278, 1249279, 1249634, 1249676, 1249664, 1249675, 1249673, 1249671.