National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

December 19-20, 2011

Significant Snowfall Across Portions of North Central Kansas

To the right is a National Weather Service Radar loop,  valid from 
2:00 pm CST, Dec. 19th to 12:00 pm CST, Dec.20th.

The NWS Hastings coverage area is located within the orange
 outlined area labeled "GID".

A cold frontal boundary moved across the Central Plains late Sunday evening Dec. 18, 2011, into Monday the 19th, bringing cooler temperatures and increased winds to the area. This boundary was asssociated with a mid level low pressure system that swept across the desert southwest into southeast Colorado and southwest Kansas by Tuesday morning the 20th. Ahead of the system, ample moisture surged north from the Gulf of Mexico into the region.  This brought much needed moisture to western and central portions of the plains. By Monday morning, snow began falling across western Kansas with mainly rain across central Kansas. As cooler temperatures moved southeast, rain switched to snow across the state. Winds behind the cold front were sustained at 20 miles per hour with gusts up to 40 miles per hour reported in some locations. Heavy snow along with gusty winds helped reduce visibilities to near white-out conditions across eastern Colorado and western Kansas. Numerous blizzard warnings, winter weather warnings, and winter weather advisories were posted across much of the Plains for Monday into Tuesday.  Snow began to come to an end by Tuesday morning the 20th, with several locations across North Central Kansas reporting snowfall accumulations in the 1-6 inch range. The vast majority of South Central Nebraska was positioned too far north to receive measurable snow from this storm, although a few places near the state line measured light amounts, including 0.5-inch near Superior.

Below is a table of selected 48-hour snowfall totals from north central Kansas, reported by various sources, and valid as of 7 am CST Wednesday, December 21:

Location	Snowfall (Inches)	Source
Hunter, KS	6.0	Coop observer
Natoma, KS	6.0	Coop observer
Osborne, KS (17 miles SSE)	6.0	trained spotter
Alton, KS (2 miles SW)	5.0	Coop observer
Osborne, KS	5.0	CoCoRaHS observer
Palco, KS	5.0	Coop observer
Beloit, KS (9 miles SSW)	4.3	CoCoRaHS observer
Stockton, KS	4.0 (estimated)	law enforcement
Beloit, KS	2.0	Coop observer
Burr Oak, KS	1.7	Coop observer
Smith Center, KS	0.3	Coop observer

 
Below is a map showing snowfall totals through the majority of the event from NWS Cooperative Observers as well as observers from the Nebraska Rainfall Assessment and Information Network (NeRAIN) and the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS).  Note: some snow that fell after 7AM on the morning of the 20th may not be reflected here). This snowfall map is a "best-approximation" of actual measured amounts. Some reports may not be included, and amounts reflected on the map may not match locations exactly due to the effects of interpolation and "smoothing" used to create the maps. These preliminary data may contain errors.

 

The image below show snow-covered ground across much of Kansas as a result of this storm...

 

This page was composed by the staff at the National Weather Service in Hastings, Nebraska.