Record-setting snow has stopped in Wichita area. Here’s how much fell across Kansas
The record-setting snow that stretched across Kansas and several other states stopped falling in the Wichita area by Thursday morning.
It left behind plenty of snow, icy roads and below-zero wind chills.
The snowfall in Wichita broke a 109-year-old record for Feb. 2. The 5.9 inches measured at the Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport surpassed the previous record of 5.2 inches set on Feb. 2, 1913. Records date back to 1888.
The area around Wichita saw between 6.5 to 7.6 inches, according to the Iowa Environmental Mesonet, which uses National Weather Service and co-op data.
An NWS meteorologist said snow flurries in Wichita continued into Thursday morning and could happen again Thursday afternoon, but wouldn’t add much if anything to total snowfall.
The amount of snow that fell around Wichita, which led to 911 receiving hundreds of calls about accidents, was still at least 2 inches less than the highest amount seen in Kansas.
That was 9.6 inches in eastern Butler County, according to the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
Areas around Butler saw between 8.5 to 9 inches, according to mesonet data. An area in Morton County, the most southwest county in the state, also saw 8.5 inches.
The mesonet data doesn’t list specific cities of snowfall, only geographical areas. On Thursday afternoon, the NWS in Wichita sent out a list showing rough estimates of the most snowfall in its coverage area.
Here are the Top 5:
9 inches, recorded 7 a.m. Thursday, 5.4 miles south, southeast of Eureka
8.5 inches, taken 8:24 a.m. Wednesday, one mile south of Augusta
7.6 inches, measured 5:30 a.m. Thursday, seven-tenths of a mile north of Goddard
7.3 inches, recorded 7 a.m. Thursday, two-tenths of a mile south, southwest of Clearwater
7.1 inches, recorded 7 a.m. Wednesday, one mile west of Rosalia
The NWS in Wichita forecasted “dangerous wind chills as low as 15 below” were possible Thursday morning. And “dangerous wind chills of 5 to 10 below zero” are possible Thursday night and early Friday morning.
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 1:09 PM.