Shortly before sunrise on 3/2, fog developed and briefly became dense enough for a couple stations to reach a quarter mile. Visibilities quickly recovered after diabatic heating.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Shortly before sunrise on 3/2, fog developed and briefly became dense enough for a couple stations to reach a quarter mile. Visibilities quickly recovered after diabatic heating.
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 Mar 2, 5:05 AM CST, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Dodge City KS 505 AM CST Mon Mar 2 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Cloudy and potentially foggy night tonight, favoring areas east of US-83. - Light precipitation possible Tuesday and Tuesday night north of a surface low. - Enhanced fire weather conditions possible Thursday favoring our western zones. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 1000 PM CST Sun Mar 1 2026 Late evening water vapor satellite imagery and RAP upper air analysis reveal a rather muted synoptic pattern atop the CONUS, with weak ridging over the central and southern Rockies and a modest trough upstream near the northern CA coast. At the surface, high pressure centered in the Great Lakes region expands all the way through the central plains, supporting northeasterly upslope flow across our area. This will drive a cloudy, and perhaps foggy night favoring areas east of US-83, but confidence is high all precipitation will remain well to the east. That said, the low clouds should help keep our area slightly warmer overnight despite the cool airmass in place, with overnight lows in the 20s to low 30s. Daytime Monday, overcast skies will likely linger through the day for areas along and east of US-283 as the upper level trough propagates eastward to the central Rockies. In response, lee cyclogenesis in eastern CO will result in winds flipping to southeasterly across southwest KS, and a wide range in afternoon highs will materialize with upper 60s/near 70 in our far southwest zones decreasing to the mid/upper 40s from Hays to Medicine Lodge. Medium range ensembles bring the upper level trough onto the central plains on Tuesday, with its attendant surface low tracking near or just south of the KS/OK border. This trajectory would keep southwest KS within the cool airmass, although any wobble to the north would result in at least our southern zones entering the warm sector. Some light precipitation is possible north of the surface low on Tuesday into Tuesday night favoring our eastern zones, but QPF will be limited as NBM probability of 0.1" or greater is 35% or less for all areas. Beyond Tuesday night, ensembles suggest a much stronger wave will push east into the Great Basin on Thursday, potentially leading to enhanced fire weather conditions west of the dryline, but predictability at this range renders confidence in any solution low. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 502 AM CST Mon Mar 2 2026 Low clouds and patchy fog will slowly clear from west to east across southwest Kansas today with northeast winds shifting to southeast between 15Z and 21Z today. As low clouds dissipate, the southeast wind will increase to near 15 knots. Garden City and Liberal will see improvements in the ceiling between 15Z and 18Z today followed by Dodge City between 18Z and 21Z. Hays however will have ceilings remain at or below 2000 feet AGL through 00z Tuesday. After sunset, ceilings will lower again with ceilings below 1000 feet AGL returning to the Hays area after 06Z Tuesday, accompanied by lower visibilities due to moist upslope flow. The low clouds and fog will then spread into the Dodge City area after 09Z Tuesday. Winds across southwest Kansas after sunset will be southeast around 10 knots. && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && DISCUSSION...Springer AVIATION...Burgert
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Dodge City KS 152 AM CST Mon Mar 2 2026 KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-030800- 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- 152 AM CST Mon Mar 2 2026 /1252 AM MST Mon Mar 2 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 Patchy fog may reduce visibilities to 1 to 3 miles at times this morning and again early Tuesday morning. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday Isolated strong to marginally severe thunderstorms will be possible in the Pratt and Medicine Lodge areas Tuesday evening. Main hazard will be hail up to quarters. Gusty winds and low humidity values on Thursday may create elevated to critical fire weather conditions west of highway 283. Scattered thunderstorms will be possible Thursday night and Friday, mainly east of highway 283. At this time severe weather is not anticipated. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
AWOS station KHYS Hays Regional Airport Awos Site reporting quarter-mile visibility in dense freezing fog.
ASOS station KGCK Garden City reporting quarter-mile visibility in dense freezing fog.
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, March 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: 1317467, 1317468.