National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

April 14-15, 2011 Blizzard

A strong low pressure system moved across the Tri-State area April 14-15, 2011, producing several severe thunderstorms and a blizzard.  Snow amounts were generally three to five inches mainly along the Colorado/Kansas border, but isolated areas in excess of six inches were also reported. Wind gusts over 60 mph were common and produced visibilities near zero across Sherman, Cheyenne (KS), Dundy, Yuma, and Kit Carson counties. 

Here is a map of the recorded snowfall.

Here are the latest precipitation amounts from the area. 

TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
752 AM MDT FRI APR 15 2011

.BR GLD  0415  CS DH00/TAIRZX/DH06/TAIRZP/PPDRZZ/SFDRZZ/SDIRZZ
:
:VALUES REPRESENT YESTERDAY`S HIGHS....LOW OVER THE LAST 12 HOURS
:AND PRECIPITATION OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS ENDING AT 6 AM CST/7 AM CDT
:CENTRAL TIME ZONE
:
:..............................................................
: ID    STATION              MAX  / MIN  /    24 HR    / SNOW
:        NAME                TEMP / TEMP / PCPN / SNOW / DEPTH
:..............................................................
:
: FIRST ORDER /ASOS/ SITES
 HLC : HILL CITY KS AIRPORT:  51  /  33  / 0.54  /      /
 MCK : MCCOOK NE AIRPORT   :  41  /  32  / 1.33  /      /
 GLD : GOODLAND KS AIRPORT :  38  /  30  / 0.52  /  3.3 /    3
NOOK1: NORTON DAM             45  /  32  / 0.34  /    T /    T
OAKK1: OAKLEY 4 W             38  /  30  / 0.37  /  2.0 /    2
OBRK1: OBERLIN                40  /  30  / 1.21  /    T /    T
QTRK1: QUINTER                    /      / 0.44  /  0.0 /    0
RLLK1: RUSSELL SPRINGS 3N:    39  /  31  / 0.30  /  2.0 /    1
CBKK1: COLBY 1 SW             38  /  28  / 0.46  /  2.4 /    2
BRWK1: BREWSTER 4 W           35  /  28  / 0.81  /  4.0 /    4
DRSK1: DRESDEN                    /      / 0.86  /      /
CDBK1: CEDAR BLUFFS               /      / 0.83  /      /
NCRK1: NORCATUR 15 NE             /      / 0.52  /      /
GRWK1: TRIBUNE 13 NNE         36  /  33  / 0.19  /      /
WLLK1: WALLACE                37  /  32  / 0.33  /  2.0 /    0
JOEC2: JOES                   35  /  31  /       /  3.0 /    3
KCCC2: KIT CARSON 9 NNE           /      / 0.82  /  6.0 /    2
WHNC2: WILD HORSE 6 N         37  /  32  / 0.41  /      /    
TTNN1: TRENTON DAM            40  /  31  / 1.73  /      /    3
STTN1: STRATTON RIVER SITE        /      / 1.09  /      /          
MKRN1: MCCOOK 1 SE                /      / 1.42  /      /       
BEKN1: BENKELMAN 2 SSW            /      / 0.71  /      /     

Here are the peak wind gusts from Goodland, McCook, and Hill City:

Goodland          61 mph at 1:58 AM MDT
Hill City         59 mph at 4:15 AM CDT 
McCook            61 mph at 10:42 PM CDT