Synopsis:
A strong winter storm system affected much of central and southwest Kansas starting as early as Friday, January 13th, at some locations, and ended early Monday, January 16th, 2017. The greatest ice accretion did not occur until late Saturday evening on the 14th and continued into late afternoon on Sunday the 15th. Surface winds increased during Sunday evening and continued through much of Monday the 16th. However, impacts were felt throughout the week due to power loss, school closings, tree and power line damage, etc.

Weather forecasts and briefings:
The first daily briefing packet issued by the NWS office in Dodge City mentioning winter weather was distributed by e-mail (to Emergency Managers, school Superintendents, and KDOT) on Sunday January 8th. In addition, the same information was posted on the Dodge City NWS website, NWS Facebook page, and NWS Twitter account as early as Sunday January 8th. Significant icing was mentioned in the packets starting with the afternoon update on Monday January 9th.
The first NWS Dodge City conference call with weather partners, including Emergency Managers, was held at 11:30 AM on Thursday January 12th with a follow-up held at 3 PM. Subsequent conference calls were conducted at 11:30 AM on the 13th and 1:15 PM on the 14th.

A Winter Storm Watch was initially issued on Wednesday, January 11th at 1:36 PM (valid starting at 6 PM Friday, January 13th) to alert of the impending storm, including the expected onset of precipitation, precipitation type and amounts, and potential impacts. Light to moderate rain was forecast upon the storm’s arrival, with a transition to freezing rain across the area through the weekend. Significant icing was emphasized as the primary impact. Additionally, light to moderate snow was expected across west central and extreme western portions of southwest Kansas late in the weekend, with snow accumulations around 2 to 4 inches.

The Winter Storm watch was upgraded to an Ice Storm Warning at 3:51 PM Thursday, January 12th (valid starting at 6 PM Friday January 13th) as confidence of a high impact icing event increased. Ice accretion amounts of one-half inch to one inch were forecast. Frequent updates were communicated through briefing packets, conference calls, the NWS website, the NWS Facebook page, and Twitter. These updates also included an extension of the warning for parts of the forecast area through early Monday. Subsequent updates to the warning highlighted an area from east of Liberal to Dodge City and Kinsley that could receive ice accretions greater than 1 inch. The Ice Storm Warning was canceled at 12:11 PM on Monday, January 16th as the freezing rain came to an end.

Although accretions of ice were not as great as the December 2006 storm, the damage to trees, and subsequently power lines was centered on Ford County (Dodge
City). One likely reason is that trees were in a weakened state due to the extreme drought of 2011, and the fact that there had not been significant icing in the decade preceding this storm.

Leading up to the storm, it is our understanding that the main utility company in Dodge City (Victory Electric) had begun preparing for the storm based on forecasts. They had begun the process of acquiring supplies that would be needed based on the impacts expected.

Side note: Immediately after the storm there were numerous (several dozen) tree service companies that arrived from out-of-state and based on many accounts they
significantly overcharged residents for clean-up. The following maps show approximate amounts of ice accretion and liquid water equivalent (ice melted down) that fell with the storm.

Photos & Video:

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Ice Accretion Totals	Liquid Equivalent Totals	Ice on Bull Statue in Dodge City	Trees destroyed by Ice Storm
Electric crews fixing power poles across Dodge CIty	Ice on a tree	Ice on a bird feeder	Pile of tree limbs that broke during ice storm