High Wind — Greeley, Kansas

2025-03-14 · Greeley, Kansas

Event narrative

Multiple sites reported gusts of 60 to 70 MPH across the county. Peak gust recorded at KKSTRIBU27 at 1330 LST.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front moved east through Northwest Kansas during the afternoon. As the cold front moved into Kansas, a wall of dust formed along the front, with the blowing dust continuing for hours afterward. As the front moved through, visibility fell immediately to near zero or lower. East ahead of the front scattered showers formed that wet the ground enough to greatly reduce the amount of dust able to blow around. Just behind the front showers formed. As the showers moved through wind gusts increased, then fell as the showers moved on. Wind gusts up to 70 MPH were reported behind the cold front due to either the large scale weather system or from the showers moving through.

There were multiple locations across Northwest Kansas that had vehicle accidents due to people stopping on the highway when they were not able to see in the blowing dust. The only accident that had fatalities or injuries was the one in eastern Sherman County. I-70 from Goodland to Colby was closed for more than 12 hours. The I-70 accident was the largest accident in the last 30 years according to the Highway Patrol. Highway 40 was closed from Sharon Springs to Oakley due to the dust storm and an accident.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1241100. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.