Blizzard — Shawnee, Kansas

2025-01-05 · Shawnee, Kansas

Event narrative

NWS office observations and measurements show 14.1 inches of snow from this storm. A CoCoRaHS observer measured 17 inches in the city of Topeka. Topeka Billard ASOS observations were frequently at or below one quarter mile visibility with winds gusting over 35 mph in the 9a to 3pm time frame on Sunday.

Local network of observations reported periods of visibility down below one quarter mile and wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph mainly in the 3am to 3pm time period on Sunday January 5th. Blizzard conditions existed across north central and northeast Kansas with anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of snow measured by the time the storm ended. All state and federal highway systems were considered closed by Sunday afternoon.

Wider weather episode

A winter storm brought a prolonged period of high impact winter weather to north central and northeast Kansas on January 4th and 5th. Light freezing drizzle and light freezing rain began Saturday January 4th which due to air temperatures and roadways temperatures in the 20s lead to treacherous driving conditions throughout the region. The freezing rain eventually transitioned to heavy snow on Sunday January 5th. Strong winds of 30-40 mph along with heavy snow created blizzard conditions across many areas on Sunday. Many areas received near record one day snowfall values of 10-18 inches and the majority of state highways became impassable and closed due to the snow and blowing snow. This was one of the highest impact storms across northeast Kansas in the past decade causing all state and interstate highways in northeast Kansas to be considered closed and impassable by Sunday afternoon.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1222312. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.