Power Outage in Stafford, KS

Power lines were blown down.

Eight to ten power poles were blown down by the high wind.

This monster tornado developed just southeast of a dissipating tornado near Macksville and then moved in a northeasterly direction. However during it's life cycle, it turned north briefly, then east briefly and then finally it moved on a steady northeast path. It narrowly missed Hudson to the south but did move across the Quivira National Refuge before moving into Rice county at 9:45 PM CDT. Damage was done to a few farm houses, outbuildings and equipment, trees, power poles and pivot irrigation systems.

This tornado damaged power poles and a few trees.

This tornado did EF1 damage to trees and power poles.

Power lines were blown down north of Stafford.

Multiple power poles were blown down.

Two power poles were blown down and there were numerous tree branches broken.

A potent winter storm moved into western Kansas during the early morning of Tuesday, February 5th and then marched eastward through central Kansas during the day Tuesday. As the upper low tracked west to east through Kansas, a surface low pressure system moved slowly east along the Kansas-Oklahoma border. This combination resulted in moderate to heavy snow in parts of western and central Kansas. Before the snow ended, from 6 to 8 inches fell in a 30 to 40 mile-wide swath from Hays to Kalvesta (in Finney County). An area of 4 to 6 inches of snow fell south of this heavier band, and was basically north of a line from Johnson to Jetmore to east of La Crosse in Rush County. One to two inches of snow fell to the south of this mentioned area, with a few patches of 3-plus inches of snow. This 1 to 2-inch band was north of a line from Elkhart to Dodge City to Greensburg to south of St. John. Considerable blowing and drifting of snow was reported, as north winds blew at 20 to 30 mph during the moderate to heavy snow. In Gray County just west of Cimarron during the mid-morning of Tuesday, freezing drizzle and fog formed a nearly solid sheet of ice along US Highway 50 along a curve and a hill. Blowing snow worsened the visibility in that area, and numerous accidents occurred. Several cars slid off the road, and 2 power poles were downed. However, no injuries were reported.

Ice accumulated to 1/2 of an inch. Numerous tree branches and power lines were taken down by the weight of the ice. Power was out for an extended period of time. Water equivalent from the storm was nearly 2 1/2 inches.

Eight power poles were blown down.

Nine power poles were blown down.

Six power poles were snapped off near the ground.

This killer tornado formed just east of another large but dissipating tornado that was approaching Macksville. Unfortunately a law officer watching the dissipating tornado was unaware that this one was rapidly forming and could not get out of harms way. His car was thrown at least 1/4 of a mile and was found in a field. He died several days later from catastrophic injuries received in the crushed vehicle. EF3 damage was done to over a dozen farms, trees, machinery, vehicles, pivot irrigation sprinklers and power poles.

A pivot sprinkler was blown down along with 6 to 7 power poles.

Brief power outages reported by law enforcement.