Winter Weather — Wyandotte, Kansas

2010-02-15 · Wyandotte, Kansas

Event narrative

A snow squall reduced visibilities to near zero on I-70. A 40 car pileup was reported near Bonner Springs around 1:30 pm with minor injuries (indirect).

Wider weather episode

An upper level disturbance produced scattered show showers across the area, during the afternoon of February 14th. While not uncommon to experience snow showers of this nature in the winter season, due to the extreme cold pocket of air above the ground and the very intense upward lift, these snow showers were able to produce an incredibly high volume of snow in a short amount of time. Making matters worse, were surface winds gusting to 35 mph at times. These conditions created near whiteout visibilities, leading to multi-vehicle crashes. One such crash was located on Interstate 70, near Bonner Springs, and involved around 40 vehicles.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 216371. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.