. . . Peak wind gust reports across eastern Colorado and western Kansas on the 24th . . .
| Location | Peak Gust (mph) |
Report Source |
| Cheyenne Wells, CO | 82 | Storm spotter measured |
| Hays, KS | 75 | AWOS |
| La Junta, CO | 74 | ASOS |
| Elkhart, KS | 72 | AMOS |
| Hill City, KS | 69 | ASOS |
| Springfield, CO | 69 | ASOS |
| Akron, CO | 68 | ASOS |
| Limon, CO | 68 | ASOS |
| Scott City, KS | 68 | AWOS |
| Hugoton, KS | 67 | AWOS |
| Ulysses, KS | 67 | AWOS |
| Johnson, KS | 66 | AWOS |
| Garden City, KS | 66* | ASOS |
| Dodge City, KS | 64 | ASOS |
| Sheridan Lake, CO | 64 | Storm spotter measured |
| Lamar, CO | 64 | ASOS |
| Hoxie, KS | 63 | Storm spotter measured |
| Liberal, KS | 63 | AWOS |
| Leoti, KS | 62 | Mesonet |
| Burlington, CO | 62 | ASOS |
* Garden City observations were manually taken for 3 hours during the
wind storm and gusts were not reported, so peak wind could have been
higher than 66 mph.
. . . Blizzard criteria met at automated weather observation stations over the central High Plains . . .
| Location of Automated Surface Observation |
Duration of Blizzard (Hrs) |
Time (Zulu) |
| Limon, CO | 9.5 | 1020-1955 |
| Akron, CO | 7 | 1233-1925 |
| Ainsworth, NE | 7 | 1711-0011 |
| Thedford, NE | 6 | 1411-2011 |
| North Platte, NE | 5.75 | 1418-2004 |
| Goodland, KS | 4.25 | 1657-2116 |
| Lamar, CO | 3.25 | 1527-1841 |
| La Junta, CO | 3 | 1446-1753 |
| Burlington, CO | 3 | 1253-155 |
Note of interest: Immediately west of the low in western
central Kansas, blizzard conditions were reported from Hays to Rush
Center to Larned during the late afternoon hours, however, the band of
snow was rather narrow, and conditions lasted less than 3 hours, not
officially meeting blizzard criteria, but came close in some areas.
Addendum: I was wrong, I found out that this corridor from Hays to Rush Center to Larned did indeed meet blizzard criteria after looking through our logs at work. Several reports of 3 to 4 hours of less than 1/4 mile visibility in snow and blowing snow to go along with the 50+ mph wind gusts.
Great info Mike! That’s pretty interesting to see 9.5 hours of blizzard conditions. I am so glad I backed out of chasing Kansas!
Comment by Tony Laubach — February 26, 2007 @ 5:34 pm
Yeah, Tony… we just missed it here in Dodge… I have to tweak this post though because the stretch from Hays to LaCrosse to Larned did indeed receive less than 1/4 mile or less visibility for 3 or 4 hours verifying blizzard criteria.. just over a narrow stretch, it was quite interesting.
Comment by Mike U — February 27, 2007 @ 9:58 am