Winter Storm in Anderson, Kansas

A widespread severe winter storm overspread northcentral, northeast and eastcentral Kansas during the morning and afternoon hours of January 4, 2005. Freezing rain began about 10 AM over central Kansas and spread east and north during the afternoon, reaching the Missouri and Nebraska borders by about 4-5PM. Significant and heavy icing began to occur during the afternoon hours. The freezing rain changed to or mixed with sleet along and north of Interstate 70 during the evening of the 4th, and to heavy snow along highway 36 from Belleville to Hiawatha, also during the evening. The freezing rain was heaviest and caused the most tree and property damage generally along and north of Interstate 35 from Emporia to Ottawa, and south of Interstate 70 from Lawrence to Topeka to Abilene. Snowfall amounts near the Nebraska border ranged from 3 to 6 inches.The counties of Osage, Lyon, Morris, southern Waubansee, southern Douglas and northern Franklin reported the most severe and widespread damage. Many areas particularly in the hardiest hit counties experienced widespread tree damage and long lasting power outages. An estimated 10,000 customers at one time were with out power, with some outages in rural areas lasting for nearly a week. Several counties were declared disaster areas by the Kansas Emergency Management agency. Total storm dollar damage in the NWS Topeka area of responsibility reached around $6.2M. Some specific county damage amounts included: Lyon county: $2.8M, Osage county: $1.15M, Wabaunsee county: $686K, Shawnee: $590K and Franklin: $353K.