High Wind — Russell, Kansas

2025-03-19 · Russell, Kansas

Event narrative

Sustained 40 mph winds began around 2:15 AM CDT with gusts over 60 beginning around 3:00 AM CDT. A peak wind gust of 70 mph was measured at 8:06 AM CDT. Power outages caused reporting issues with the ASOS site, but based on surrounding observations, 40 mph sustained winds ended around 3:00 PM CDT.

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 1249618. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.