Strong winds and flying dust: ‘Stay home, be safe,’ Kansas trooper says

Update 7 p.m.: I-70 and other highways in western Kansas have been reopened to traffic after high winds closed them for several hours.

Some wind and blowing dust continues.

“Motorists should continue to use extra caution and avoid travel if possible,” a news release from the Kansas Department of Transportation said.

5:20 p.m.:

The severe weather isn’t expected to pass over the Wichita area until after 9 p.m., according to a National Weather Service in Wichita.

In Hutchinson, 84 mph winds were reported just before 5 p.m. Wichita’s strongest gust so far was 67 mph just before 3 p.m. Since the storm is moving from west to east, the high winds in Hutchinson indicate Wichita could still see higher winds to come.

Around 4:40 p.m., Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Gardner tweeted a video in front of an overturned enclosed trailer being towed behind a truck. In the video, as winds were howling, Gardner said: “Do not drive. If you don’t have to be out here, don’t be out here ... Stay home, be safe.”

Gardner is a public information officer for the KHP. He covers north-central Kansas that starts just north of Harvey County.

Wildfires become an issue

The high winds caused wildfires to spread quickly across the state.

One was reported around 2:50 p.m. near K-96 and West in Wichita, but that has since been brought under control, according to a 911 emergency communications supervisor.

A “life-threatening grass fire” is also being tracked in northwest Russell County, the NWS said around 4:40 p.m. It was spreading eastward.

“People in the path of this fire should be prepared to take quick action which may include evacuation,” the NWS said in a tweet.

In Ellis, the police department wrote on Facebook at 4:32 p.m. that residents should be “vigilant of the current evolving situation” involving a fire danger.

“If you wish to evacuate please do so,” the post says. “Please check on your families and friends that live on this side of town.”

Around 3 p.m., the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Department said in a Facebook post that residents in a certain area should “evacuate immediately” because of a wildfire.

4:10 p.m.:

Winds reached 100 mph at the Russell Municipal Airport, the National Weather Service in Wichita reported just before 4 p.m.

That’s 33 mph faster than any gust measured so far in Wichita and appears to be one of the highest winds captured Wednesday in Kansas.

3:30 p.m.

Strong winds blew off the roof at Caldwell Elementary School’s gymnasium in Sumner County, forcing students to be evacuated and sent home for the day, according to Sumner NewsCow.

2:50 p.m.:

Goddard School District said students may be delayed getting home as “school buses are taking alternative routes to avoid Highway 54 when possible to keep away from strong winds that may impact high profile vehicles.”

2:20 p.m.:

The I-70 closure from Colorado to Hays has now been extended to Russell, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Dust from strong winds has caused low visibility in western Kansas and led to multiple semis overturning along the highway. Additionally, the department announced that all state routes in Cheyenne, Decatur, Gove, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas and Wallace counties are closed because of the storm.

2:15 p.m.:

Students in Wichita could be delayed on their bus ride home, according to Wichita Public Schools.

Because of high winds, buses will not go on the highways, leading to delays on some routes, the district said.

1:20 p.m.:

The low visibility from blowing dust has caused I-70 from Colorado to Hays to be closed in both directions, the Kansas Department of Transportation said at 1:12 p.m.

The wind has knocked over multiple semis on I-70.

Trooper Ben Gardner tweeted at 1:15 p.m. that troopers in north-central Kansas were working four semi roll-over crashes at that moment.

1 p.m.:

Western Kansas is getting the brunt of a storm that’s making its way east, according to the National Weather Service in Wichita.

Around 12:45 p.m., the storm, which was blowing 70-plus mph gusts and with zero visibility from dust, was approaching Hays, meteorologist James Cuellar said. He expects it to reach the Wichita area between 1-4 p.m. and start to taper off between 6-7 p.m.

Rising winds have already caused damage. A power line was knocked down near K-96 and Hillside in Wichita, causing power outages. Around 11:40 a.m., the Kansas Humane Society said an outage was forcing it to close.

Cuellar said there have been reports of a couple of semi-trucks being blown over, including one on I-70 just northeast of Ellsworth.

The highest wind gust of the day so far is 77 mph, measured at two meters off the ground at 12:40 p.m. in Leoti, which is in Wichita County in western Kansas, according to Kansas Mesonet.

As of 12:53 p.m., the highest gust in the Wichita area was in the high 40s.

Videos from western Kansas show dust causing zero visibility as the wind howls through the area.

It “feels like the sand and grit will take your skin off,” an Eagle photographer in Ford, Kansas, said in a video he took as dust blew across a gravel parking lot.

This story will be updated.

This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 1:18 PM.