A shortwave trough with a cold front swept across Kansas. This brought strong upper-level winds up to 50-60 KTs.
Every event with a place to put it; 25 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 DDC wrote it up.
A shortwave trough with a cold front swept across Kansas. This brought strong upper-level winds up to 50-60 KTs. As winds mixed down to the surface, very strong winds were recorded up to multiple 67 mph gusts.
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 Dodge City, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 15, 5:06 PM CST, 5 hours 55 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Dodge City KS 506 PM CST Thu Jan 15 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Dry conditions are expected throughout the forecast - Strong winds gusting over 45 mph is expected Friday - Elevated fire risk possible Friday && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 126 PM CST Thu Jan 15 2026 A weak cold front will move through the area this afternoon shifting winds to the north with a few mid to high clouds to be osberved this evening. A stronger push of wind and cooler temperatures are expected tomorrow morning into the early afternoon hours with wind gusts above 50 mph late morning into the afternoon hours. As of now the 17z run of the NBM depicts a 40 to 70 percent chance of wind gusts over 55 mph north of highway 50 and west of highway 183 and gives me enough confidence that there will be at least a few gusts over 60 mph in this area. Ergo, I have upgraded to a high wind warning across this area. Another concern for tomorrow will be fire danger. High winds in combination of low RHs will create near or above critical fire danger across ares west of Highway 283 and along the KS/OK border. A red flag warning has been issued to account for this. Breezy north to northwesterly winds continue through tomorrow morning then become light tomorrow afternoon. Abundant high clouds are expected across the southwestern half of the forecast area tomorrow night with mostly clear skies Saturday. As for temperatures, lows tonight look to dip into the upper 20s with low 30s across south central Kansas. Highs tomorrow will only reach into the 40s with lows tomorrow night in the upper teens to low 20s. Wind chills in the single digits are expected north of Highway 50. Highs Saturday are expected to range from the upper 20s across our northern zones with low to mid 30s elsewhere. The remainder of the forecast continues to be dry with ensemble models showing dry cold fronts moving through the area Sunday and again Wednesday. As of now only a slight increase in cloud cover is expected along these fronts. Temperatures look to reach into the 50s Sunday, down in to the 30s to low 40s Monday, 50s Tuesday, then slightly cooler Wednesday. Lows Sunday morning will dip into the teens with wind chills in the single digits across a majority of the forecast area. Lows will then be in the upper teens to low 20s Monday and Tuesday mornings with 20s as we head into the mid part of next week. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 504 PM CST Thu Jan 15 2026 A high impact wind event will affect southwest Kansas starting after 06Z tonight as a cold front quickly moves through southwest Kansas which will increase the surface winds to around 20 kts with gusts to 30 kts. Winds at 2 kft should also increase to around 50 kts. Winds will stay strong through 00Z with the strongest winds occurring between 18-00Z where sustained winds will be around 30 kts with gusts as high as 50 kts. This could lead to areas of BLDU for DDC, GCK, and LBL which could reduce surface visibilities to 2-4 SM. Ceilings should stay in VFR flight category for all terminals during the time period. && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning from 9 AM CST /8 AM MST/ to 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ Friday for KSZ030-043>045-061>064-074>078-084>089. High Wind Warning from 9 AM CST /8 AM MST/ to 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ Friday for KSZ030-031-043>046-061>065-077>079. && DISCUSSION...Hovorka_42 AVIATION...Tatro
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Dodge City KS 201 AM CST Thu Jan 15 2026 KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-160815- Trego-Ellis-Scott-Lane-Ness-Rush-Hamilton-Kearny-Finney-Hodgeman- Pawnee-Stafford-Stanton-Grant-Haskell-Gray-Ford-Edwards-Kiowa- Pratt-Morton-Stevens-Seward-Meade-Clark-Comanche-Barber- 201 AM CST Thu Jan 15 2026 /101 AM MST Thu Jan 15 2026/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Kansas, south central Kansas, southwest Kansas, and west central Kansas. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Strong northwesterly winds are likely daytime Friday behind a strong cold front. Winds will be sustained in the 25-40 mph range gusting to 55-60 mph. A High Wind Watch has been issued for portions of southwest KS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed. Springer
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
25 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Mesonet station AX100 WAKEENEY recorded a 67 mph wind gust.
AWOS station K3K3 Syracuse recorded a 60 mph wind gust.
A personal weather station recorded a 60 mph wind gust.
Mesonet station UR350 Kismws recorded a 58 mph wind gust.
KZLF transmitter site recorded a 64 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 63 mph wind gust.
Mesonet station recorded a 64 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 61 mph wind gust.
Syracuse AWOS station recorded a 58 mph wind gust.
The Garden City ASOS recorded a 64 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 59 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 63 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 59 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 66 mph wind gust.
Measured a 60 mph wind gust from a personal weather station.
Personal weather station recorded a 64 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 59 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 58 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 59 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 64 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 58 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 59 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 62 mph wind gust.
Personal weather station recorded a 59 mph wind gust.
KZLF transmitter site recorded a 67 mph wind gust.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, January 2026
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: 1306872, 1306870, 1306871, 1307104, 1307088, 1307081, 1307090, 1307098, 1307076, 1307111, 1307094, 1307120, 1307097, 1307113, 1307092, 1307106, 1307109, 1307115, 1307085, 1307084, 1307121, 1307103, 1307080, 1307108, 1307096.