North-central Kansas sees more than a foot of snow

Parts of north-central Kansas received more than a foot of snow during showers that started Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service reported.

Wichita was expected to see less than an inch of total snowfall from the band that swept through the area Tuesday. North of Wichita, 13 inches was reported in Sylvan Grove, in Lincoln County, as of 3 p.m., the Weather Service said. Ellsworth and Canton each saw 9 inches. With 2 inches of snow, Goessel, Hillsboro and McPherson were on the lower end of reported amounts.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported its a fatal wreck in McPherson County. A 26-year-old McPherson man died and two children — ages 4 and 6 — were taken to the hospital with suspected serious injuries.

McPherson County falls under the Highway Patrol’s Troop C, which includes 18 counties in north-central Kansas.

In Troop C, the Highway Patrol reported 82 calls from 4 a.m. to noon, including 42 slide-offs.

Trooper Ben Gardner, who covers Troop C, said in a Twitter video at 8:36 a.m. that there had been a “significant amount of wrecks” near the McPherson and Saline county line. In the video, Gardner was in front of what appeared to be two slide-offs on I-135.

Part of I-70 in Saline and Ellsworth counties were closed during the storm, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.

This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 9:33 AM.