Rare Southern U.S. Winter Storm; Dangerous Cold Weather For Much of the Eastern U.S.; Critical Fire Weather for Southern California

A rare winter storm impacting the Southern U.S. will move offshore Wednesday morning. Behind the storm, arctic air will continue encompassing the eastern two-thirds of the Nation with only a slow return to normal temperatures expected by the end of the week. Moderate to strong Santa Ana winds and low humidity will maintain Critical fire weather conditions in southern California into Thursday. Read More >

Overview

On November 25, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, a snowstorm affected much of the state of Kansas. In particular, a band of heavy snow impacted a swath from southwest Kansas eastward through Wichita and then northeast through Topeka. The official two-day snowfall total in Topeka was 7.2", making this storm the third largest November storm on record. Southwest of Topeka some places saw even higher totals, with parts of Dickinson, Morris, and Lyon Counties seeing reports as high as 7" to 10.5". As this storm occurred Thanksgiving weekend, the normal weekday commutes weren't affected but there were still many travelers on the road. Accidents and slide-offs were widespread on some of the area highways.

Snow Totals
Photos
Radar/Environment

Snow Totals

Map showing snowfall reports we received across the area. Contours are analyzed based on a combination of radar and observational data, as well as the observed point snowfall reports.

Event Total Snowfall Map

Photos


Beginning stages of the snow at the NWS office in Topeka.	Heavy snow in Topeka at a high school state football playoff game. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Smith.	View from the NWS Topeka office the following morning.	View in Lawrence the following morning. Photo courtesy of Chelsea Picha.

Radar/Environment


Kansas Radar Loop	CONUS-wide water vapor satellite loop of the storm as it moved through the central US.	0z Sounding at Topeka. Note the deep saturation (green and red lines close together) with temperatures entirely below freezing.	Satellite view on Sunday Nov. 26 of the previous day's snowfall.