Winter Storm in Ellsworth, Kansas

A long duration winter storm event impacted the area which started as freezing drizzle as well as freezing rain and snow with some sleet mixed in. The storm total snowfalls ranged from 7 to 10 inches with the highest values in the southeast quadrant of the county. There were a couple slide offs along that occurred during the morning of the 4th with no known injuries.

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.