Blizzard — Gove, Kansas

2018-12-27 · Gove, Kansas

Event narrative

Visibility as low as 10 ft. in the wet, blowing snow. Power outages were also reported. Multiple vehicles were involved in accidents on I-70. One of these accidents resulted in a fatality.

Wider weather episode

A winter storm system brought wide spread precipitation to Northwest Kansas, beginning on the 26th. The precipitation began as rain then transitioned to snow during the night of the 26th. Winds became strong as the rain changed over to snow the night of the 26th. This caused blizzard conditions to occur in the snowfall. The blizzard conditions swept northeast across Northwest Kansas, ending as the snowfall shifted east. Multiple accidents and slide-offs were reported on I-70 in Gove County due to the icy roadway and poor visibility. One of the accidents involved a fatality. The highest snowfall amount reported was 9.5 southwest of Hoxie.

Besides the snow, high wind gusts also occurred. A gust of 58 MPH was measured at the Goodland airport, and a 60 MPH gust was measured at the Hill City airport.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 797462. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.