Power Outage in Gem, KS

In the latter half of the morning on December 2nd, strong, dry southwesterly winds began picking up dirt and dust in Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas. This led to areas of reduced visibility due to the blowing dust across Eastern Colorado, Western Kansas, and extreme Southwest Nebraska. A strong cold front entered Northwest Kansas around 11 AM and quickly moved southeast. Before this cold front moved in, it was already collecting dust along its leading edge, forming a wall of dust resembling a haboob. ||As this cold front swept through the area, it gathered more dust and grew in severity and longevity. Many photos and videos showing a wall of dust a few hundred feet high were sent to the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Goodland, Kansas. When the wall of dust moved over an area, visibility would drop to near or less than 0.25 mile with wind gusts near and exceeding 70 mile per hour. Strong northwesterly winds and 0.25-mile visibility behind the initial wall of dust would continue for an hour or longer before subsiding. ||Two multi-vehicle accidents were reported, indirectly caused by this dust storm. The first accident was occurred on I-70 near mile marker 77. This accident caused lane blockage on I-70 and some traffic was diverted, however the interstate never fully shutdown. No injuries or fatalities were reported from this accident. The other accident occurred on US Highway 24, west of Hoxie, Kansas. This accident accounted for the sole fatality of this storm event. A wildfire that burned nearly 2250 acres was also reported in Wallace County just before the dust storm swept through the area. This fire was caused by a power line that was blown over into a grass field. The highest recorded wind gust of the day was in Sharon Springs, Kansas at 75 miles per hour.

December 02, 2022

Tornado. The tornado that formed in northern Logan County, confirmed by an emergency management damage report of a power pole down and tornadic debris signature detected on NWS Goodland WSR 88D, continued into extreme southern Thomas County. No damage was reported in this very rural area. Times estimated by radar. This tornado was a Quasi-Linear Convective System (QLCS) tornado.

April 22, 2022

High Wind. Two rounds of high winds occurred across Thomas County. Mesonet stations across the county recorded wind gusts of 58-81 mph, with the strongest recorded gust located in Colby, Kansas. Numerous power poles and lines were reported down across the county. The town of Rexford lost power due to the high winds. On I-70 near Levant, a semi truck was blown over due to high winds at mile marker 43. In Colby, numerous trees had various sized limbs down or were uprooted and a pivot irrigation system was knocked over. There were also reports of shingles blown off roofs and two windows broken on a vehicle parked in a strip mall parking lot. The wind gusts capable of this degree of damage were estimated to be up to 110 mph.

December 15, 2021

During the morning to mid-afternoon hours, an intense low pressure system moved away from the Colorado Front Range and across the Central High Plains. This system was responsible for generating two rounds of high winds in Northwest Kansas. The high winds gusted between 58 to 120 mph over a period of approximately 6.5 hours, creating high wind damage across majority of Northwest Kansas. ||The two rounds of high winds were able to generate dust storms; one ahead of the cold front, and another round as the cold front moved east-northeast across South-Central Colorado into Northwest Kansas. The high winds and blowing dust created hazardous travel conditions across the Central High Plains, prompting a several hour closure of I-70 from the Colorado state line to Salina, Kansas and numerous state highways in Western Kansas. Numerous accidents were reported on roadways across the area prior to the closures due to reduced visibility and/or blow overs due to the winds. The high winds were also able to spark several fires across Northwest Kansas causing damages to three homes, several vehicles, power poles, outbuildings, fences, and fields while also causing one fatality. As the front moved into Central Kansas, showers and a few thunderstorms developed along the front producing penny sized hail in Sheridan County.

December 15, 2021

Scattered storms developed along a boundary from Greeley County to Cheyenne County, Kansas. This line of storms moved north-northeast across Northwest Kansas producing up to quarter sized hail and up to 80 mph wind gusts with damage to a powerline in Sherman County.

August 19, 2021

At 7:45 PM MDT, Colby [Thomas Co, KS] EMERGENCY MNGR reports TSTM WND DMG. MULTIPLE POWER OUTAGES IN THE TOWN OF CO… https://t.co/MkWu3JRLWZ

@iembot_gld - June 20, 2021 01:49