Winter Storm in Sedgwick, Kansas

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as drizzle and freezing drizzle followed by freezing rain and sleet before transitioning to snow. Colonel Jabara Airport measured a flat ice accumulation of 0.45 inches. Storm total snowfalls ranged from 3 to 5 inches. Visibilities were reduced to under a mile after the blizzard conditions which ended around 1PM in eastern portions of the county and lasted through 5PM on the 5th. The accumulated ice followed by snow created a mess on the roadways and several slide offs along with other vehicular accidents occurred during the event. Unfortunately there were two fatalities from one of the accidents at the tail end of the event.

A powerful long duration winter storm moved into Kansas during the weekend of January 4th and 5th. The event started with freezing drizzle and drizzle; there were numerous slide offs across the state on the 4th. As the intensity of the precipitation increased, this freezing rain led to flat ice accumulations up to 0.66 which was reported in Russell.

Gradually colder air was ushered in with this system, and this transitioned the precipitation type to sleet then eventually snow. Embedded thunderstorms helped to enhance the accumulations and even produced some graupel. Strong northwest winds created blizzard conditions for much of Kansas. The highest snowfall accumulations occurred in north central and northeast Kansas with over a foot reported. A combination of the initial ice followed by blowing and drifting snow created dangerous travel conditions with most of the highways closed for several hours.