April 5th snow storm

Yes, they are rare, but Thursday was proof that April snowstorms do occur in Kansas now and then.

A fast moving storm system produced a heavy, late season snowfall across portions of central, south-central and southeast Kansas during the afternoon hours of Thursday, April 5th. To the naked eye, the storm system did not appear all that impressive. However, a closer inspection of the data revealed a narrow zone of intense lift that produced 6 to 8 inches of snow from western Saline County, through eastern McPherson County, and into southwest Marion County.

Storm accumulation map of Central, South-Central and Southeast Kansas.

1 pm radar image.

4 pm radar image.

Snow storms of this magnitude across Central, South-Central and Southeast Kansas are fairly rare this late in the season, and have occurred only handful of times over the past several decades. For example, the 8 inches that fell at Lindsborg was the 2nd highest April daily snowfall total since 1905 (8.5 inches occurred on 4/8/1938). Similar results occurred at Salina. The 5 inches that accumulated was the 2nd highest April daily total since 1949 (7 inches occurred on 4/1/1970). Even Howard down in Elk County got into the action, with 2 inches accumulating. This tied the 4th highest April daily total set on 4/4/1979.