Think this is bad? The coldest temperature ever recorded in Kansas is minus 40
As dangerously cold air tightens its grip on the Sunflower State, temperature records are starting to fall like icicles on a windy day.
Temperatures may not make it above zero in southwest Kansas on Sunday, with lows dropping into the negative teens at times. Wichita won’t be much warmer, struggling to get above zero Sunday and Monday.
On top of all that, Wichita could see record-setting snowfall.
“It is ‘just hunker down,’” said Chance Hayes, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wichita. “The key there is making sure that folks stay safe and as warm as they possibly can.”
Record lows could be set for several days in Wichita beginning on Sunday, Hayes said. Wichita could also set multiple records for lowest high temperatures as well.
High temperatures could be measured using one hand Sunday and Monday, forecasters say. Wind chills will drop into the negative teens and even lower at times.
“Folks have to be extremely cognizant of that and limit their time outdoors,” Hayes said. “With temperatures like this, hypothermia and frostbite can set in much quicker.”
Snow is expected across much of the state Sunday night and early Monday morning, forecasters say, with the higher amounts falling in southern parts of the state.
Wichita’s record for heaviest snow on a Feb. 14 is 4.6 inches set in 1969. Feb. 15’s record is similar at 4.5 inches set in 1993.
Up to 8 inches of snow was predicted to fall between Sunday and Monday. The National Weather Service said Sunday afternoon that snow accumulations could be 3 to 5 inches through Monday morning.
That snow cover will keep temperatures low well into the week, he said. Highs Sunday and Monday will be in the low single digits, with Tuesday perhaps touching 10 in Wichita. Lows could fall into the negative double digits on Monday.
Southwest Kansas is being hit even harder, with lows in the negative teens Sunday night and Monday and highs warming so slowly they won’t escape the teens until Thursday.
Minus 40
This lengthy cold spell is particularly jarring for residents because there hasn’t been anything like it in nearly 40 years for the Wichita area.
But Kansas is no stranger to bitter cold: the coldest temperature ever recorded in the Sunflower State is minus 40 on Feb. 13, 1905, in Lebanon in northern Kansas.
Many of the records currently under threat by this polar invasion date back more than 100 years.
“We were due for some extreme cold weather,” said Jon Finch, a forecaster for the weather service’s Dodge City branch. “It happens occasionally. It’s just the luck of the draw, I guess.”
Forecasters in Dodge City and elsewhere in the state are tracking the length of the cold spell to see if it shatters records.
Dodge City’s record for consecutive days below 20 degrees is 11 days, set in 1960. Tuesday would mark nine consecutive days below 20, Finch said, and Wednesday could add to it.
If forecasts prove accurate, Hill City in northwest Kansas will set a record for most consecutive days with a high temperature below 10 degrees with five, according to the Goodland branch of the weather service.
Goodland will threaten its record of nine consecutive days of highs below 15 before the cold spell finally begins to ease.
Record lows are anticipated early this week in eastern Kansas as well, with temperatures expected to drop well below zero.
“This is remarkably cold weather for this time of year,” said Chad Omitt, warning coordination meteorologist for the Topeka branch of the weather service.
Average highs by mid-February in eastern Kansas are in the low to mid-40s, he said, or about 40 degrees higher than the anticipated highs Sunday and Monday in Topeka.
This story was originally published February 14, 2021 at 5:01 AM.