Blizzard — Barton, Kansas

2025-03-19 · Barton, Kansas

Event narrative

The county emergency manager reported power outages across the county along with near whiteout conditions around 8AM CDT. Additionally, Kansas State Highway 4 was closed at Hoisington and points westward due to conditions. At least sustained 35 mph winds were present at Great Bend for several hours, and likely also occurred across the rest of the county based on surrounding reports and observations.

Wider weather episode

Another very strong system impacted a large portions of the High Plains and Central Plains from the early morning hours to the early afternoon hours of March 19. Strong southerly winds occurred ahead of a strong approaching cold front during the early morning hours across portions of south-central and southeast Kansas. Then a strong cold front and strong northerly winds that accompanied it moved into central Kansas later that morning. These strong winds continued to spread southward into south-central Kansas. Meanwhile, moderate to heavy snow developed across portions of western and central Kansas and produced blizzard conditions during much of the morning and early afternoon hours.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1249277. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.