Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in Kansas
Every extreme cold/wind chill event the National Weather Service has filed in Kansas, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
The most significant on the map
The most significant extreme cold/wind chill episodes in Kansas.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 388
- Deaths
- 4
- Injuries
- 1
- Damage
- $11,000
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, February 6 to 18, 2021A historic cold outbreak overspread all of the Plains on February 6th and lasted through February 18th. A persistent Arctic airmass like this hasn't affected the region since the 1980s. There were days where the high temperature did not make it out of the single digits.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, December 18, 2016A brutally cold airmass settled across the region behind several strong cold fronts. The coldest air was observed on the 18th with low temperatures well below zero. The coldest reading was -27F near Kendall.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, September 24 to 26, 2000Less than one week after temperatures of around 100 degrees, an unseasonable and record setting cold airmass moved across the region. On the 24th, many stations recorded high temperatures in the 40s which set a record for minimum highs.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, December 11, 2000Arctic air swept across the area and combined with strong north winds produced wind chill readings as low as 45 degrees below zero.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, December 11 to 31, 2000Very cold arctic air spread over the area starting on the 11th and remained entrenched through the end of the month. A number of days the mercury fell to below zero readings. Strong winds on several days also sent wind chill readings to as low as 30 degrees below zero.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, January 1 to 2, 2001The extreme cold of December continued the first 2 days of January. There were many locations that recorded below zero readings.On the 2nd Abilene recorded a low of -7, Ottawa a low of -12, and Topeka a low of -10.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, December 22, 2022Wind chills dropped into the -25 to -40 degree range during the overnight and early morning hours of December 22nd. Northwest winds of 25 to 45 mph along with air temperatures of zero to -10F will do that.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, February 18 to 20, 2025A blast of record cold air moves into the central United States, with the initial cold front moving over western Kansas on Monday night.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, January 6, 2014Wind Chills of -25 to -31F were recorded during the overnight hours into the early morning of January 6th across much of northeast Kansas.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, February 14 to 16, 2021On February 5, a cold air mass settled into the center part of the country, which caused temperatures to go below freezing. They would not return to the freezing/melting point until several weeks later. The worst of the cold snap occurred between February 14 through February 16.
- Extreme Cold and Heavy Snow in Kansas, March 2 to 4, 2019During the evening of the 2nd several east-west bands of snow developed over Northwest Kansas. The southern band of snow, running roughly along Highway 40, produced six to seven inches of snow across parts of Wallace, Wichita, Logan, and Gove counties.
- Extreme Cold and Winter Weather in Kansas, December 21 to 23, 2022An arctic air mass, with wind gusts of 20-45 MPH and temperatures in the teens below zero, produced wind chills as low as -49F in the worst of the cold. During the evening of the 21st a band of heavy snowfall moved over Rawlins and Sherman counties.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, December 9, 2009Wind chill values of -25 to -30 Fahrenheit were common on the morning of the 9th across all of northwest Kansas, southwest Nebraska and eastern Colorado. Air temperatures of -5 to -15 F combined with north winds to produce dangerously low wind chill readings.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, December 17 to 18, 2016An arctic air mass, combined with one to five inches of snow and light to breezy winds, led to wind chills commonly in the -25F to -35F across Northwest Kansas. The bitter cold wind chills started in the late afternoon and lasted into the following morning.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, February 14 to 16, 2021An arctic air mass moved northwestern Kansas and resided in the area for several days. Wind chills warmed during the daytime before dropping to or below Wind Chill Warning criteria during the night.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, December 31, 2014Temperatures in the single digits to teens below zero, along with wind speeds of 10-15 MPH, lead to wind chill readings of -25F below zero or colder through the morning.
- Excessive Heat and Extreme Cold in Kansas, February 4 to 6, 2014During the overnight and through the morning hours the arctic air mass over the area combined with a recent snow pack, caused temperatures to fall into the teens below zero.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, October 6 to 10, 2000Unusually strong Arctic high pressure built southward into the central Plains in early October, bringing 4 days of record breaking cold to northeast Kansas.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, December 10 to 31, 2000Arctic air gripped northeast Kansas for the final 3 weeks of December. Except for a few hours on the 15thand 16th, temperatures remained below freezing for the entire period. Daily temperatures were 10 to 20degrees below normal through the period.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, December 22 to 23, 2022An Arctic air mass entered the region on the morning of December 22nd, plunging temperatures to below zero. Strong winds combined with the cold temperatures yielded wind chills between -25 and -40 below zero from roughly 10 am on 12/22 to noon on 12/23.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, February 18 to 21, 2025Extremely cold temperatures and wind chills impacted NE Kansas between Feb 18 and Feb 20.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, October 8 to 9, 2000After a week of record warmth, record cold descended upon north-central Kansas and brought to an end the 2000 growing season. For two consecutive mornings, record or near record low temperatures were recorded.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, December 24 to 31, 2017Weather-wise, the end of 2017 across North Central Kansas will be most-remembered for bitter cold.
- Extreme Cold in Kansas, February 7 to 16, 2021Mid-February 2021 unleashed a relentless blast of brutal cold, the likes of which North Central Kansas had not endured in several decades.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Kansas, February 14 to 15, 2021An extended period of unseasonably cold weather gripped southeast Kansas between February 7 and February 18. The coldest temperatures and wind chills occurred from February 14 through February 16.
More
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill everywhereEvery kind of event in Kansas
Sources
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.