National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

A strong winter storm moved across the southern Plains Monday. This system really packed a punch as it brought a fast changing and wide range of winter type precipitation to the region. Early Monday morning, rain changed to sleet, then snow across central Kansas. This caused several roads to ice over making travel quite difficult. By mid-morning, the snow was confined to areas north and west of Russell where they saw several inches. South and east of Russell down to Hutchinson and Newton, the snow gave way to freezing drizzle, which lasted for several hours. Across the remainder of southeast Kansas, drizzle and light rain continued.

Monday Evening, heavier precipitation spread south and east. This precipitation changed to snow from northwest to southeast overnight. Snow accumulations were confined to areas north of highway 54. However, some freezing drizzle lingered Tuesday morning across the area. When all was said and done, the storm left Russell buried in 8 inches of snow and other communities around the region dealing with icy roads and sidewalks.

Image 1 is a storm total snowfall map from Sunday night through Monday night.

The following are 3 day precipitation totals from Saturday, March 18th through Monday, March 20th:

   Winfield:              1.89 inches
   Wichita Mid Continent: 1.61 inches
   Coffeyville:           1.30 inches
   Hutchinson:            1.22 inches
   Salina:                1.19 inches
   Chanute:               1.18 inches
   Parsons:               1.18 inches
   Russell:               1.16 inches