Winter Storm — Shawnee, Kansas

2000-01-23 · Shawnee, Kansas

Wider weather episode

The storm system mentioned in the previous entry resulted in less than a half inch of snow in the Topeka area yet roads became slick and hazardous resulting in two major traffic accidents near the I-70 and I-470 interchange in west Topeka. The first accident occurred shortly after 2pm when a vehicle driven by a woman slid off the roadway when the woman lost control of the car on a slick overpass. The car left the roadway and rolled sideways down a hill ejecting all three occupants and resulted in serious injuries to the woman and her two sons who were passengers in the vehicle. One of the boys died two days later from injuries suffered in the accident. The second accident occurred at 3pm a short distance from the first accident and turned fatal when a truck driven by a 76 year old man slid off the roadway, ejected the male driver and struck a concrete barrier.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5126874. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.