Winter Storm — Smith, Kansas

2023-12-25 · Smith, Kansas

Event narrative

Snowfall amounts of mainly 2-5 inches blanketed the county. A few reported totals included: 5.0 inches from the NWS Cooperative Observer in Lebanon and 3-4 inches in the Smith Center area.

Wider weather episode

Christmas 2023 gifted this six-county North Central Kansas area a moderately-strong winter storm featuring accumulating and blowing snow, along with brief/sporadic near-blizzard conditions. This wintry Christmas weather was actually the main act of a slow-moving low pressure system that dropped various rounds of precipitation within the area between the 23rd-26th. Precipitation started out as light rain on the 23rd-24th, before changing to snow starting late on the 24th but especially on the 25th-26th, and with even a touch of light freezing drizzle mixing in before the system departed. However, by far the majority of accumulating snow and resultant travel impacts occurred during the Christmas calendar day. The majority of the six-county area picked up between 2-5 inches of snow, with spotty coverage of as much as 5-6 reported mainly within Mitchell, Jewell and Smith counties. The combination of several hours of light-to-moderate (and localized briefly heavy) snow, in tandem with moderately-strong north-northwest winds (commonly sustained 20-30 MPH/gusting 25-40 MPH), reduced visibility to under 1 mile for several hours in some locations and induced at least spotty, near-blizzard conditions. As for snow totals, per a few dozen of NWS and CoCoRaHS observers, some of the highest tallies featured: 6.0 in both Beloit and at Lovewell Dam, 5.0 in Lebanon and Jewell, and 4.5 four miles south of Burr Oak. Temperatures/wind chills were not overly-cold by late-December standards, with temperatures during the day mainly 25-30 F, and wind chills commonly 10-15 F.

Delving deeper into the meteorological background and timing of this event, the Christmas Day winter storm was again the main act of a multi-day precipitation event that brought modest, but much-needed total precipitation (including rain and melted snow) of 0.25-0.50 to most of North Central Kansas. As for forecast snowfall totals, there was admittedly above-average uncertainty going into this event. Some of this forecast uncertainty stemmed from the fact that the powerful, closed mid-upper level low pressure system that eventually blossomed over the heart of the Central Plains on the 25th-26th evolved from a complex merger of two, initially-separate shortwave troughs approaching from the western United States...a northern stream disturbance tracking from the Pacific Northwest across the Northern Rockies, and a southern stream wave swinging northeastward out of the Desert Southwest. On the morning of the 25th, these disturbances completed their phasing/merger, as a vigorous, closed mid-upper low quickly developed over western Kansas/Nebraska. While parts of the area received some light snow on the evening of the 24th, things really ramped up on Christmas morning, as various snow bands blossomed and started rotating from southeast-to-northwest across mainly Mitchell/Jewell/Smith counties. Some locations within primarily Mitchell/Jewell counties already had as much as 3-5 on the ground by sunrise, but for the majority of the six-county area the bulk of snow accumulation played out during the afternoon-evening hours as additional snow bands wrapped southward and eastward under the core of the slow-moving upper system. At the surface, the moderately-strong northwest winds that prevailed across North Central Kansas throughout the 25th were driven by a fairly tight pressure gradient sandwiched between high pressure (around 1035 millibars) centered over the Northern Rockies, and a roughly 1004 millibar low pressure center that embarked on a circuitous trek...well-displaced from the parent upper low. On the morning of the 25th, the heart of this low tracked due-north from southwest Missouri to western Iowa. Then, during the afternoon-evening hours, the low actually retrograded a bit to the northwest (to near Sioux Falls), before then sinking southwestward into north central Nebraska by midnight. On the morning of the 26th, the heart of this low pressure system continued its southward trudge into North Central Kansas, allowing the blustery winds to ease up considerably within the weakening pressure gradient.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1146750. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.