Emporia gets heavy snow, but misses worst of storm
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Much of the Emporia area missed the heaviest snowfalls when a major winter storm crossed northeast and north central Kansas Tuesday evening through this morning.
While freezing rain and snow began falling earlier in counties west and north of Lyon County, much of the predicted precipitation here fell as rain throughout the day Tuesday. By early evening, minimal amounts of freezing rain had turned to snowfall.
“The heaviest amounts range from around the Abilene area northeast to the Hiawatha area,” said Kyle Poage, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Topeka.
Poage said he expected today’s high to be about 28 degrees, with north-northwest winds around 15 miles an hour with gusts up to 25.
“Looks like ... we’ll get some more clouds moving in tonight and get some more flurries tonight and maybe tomorrow morning,” Poage said. “Just to remind you, it’s still winter. Nothing to accumulate.”
Poage said the storm — and the subsequent killer tornadoes in Arkansas and Tennessee — had come from a “very strong late winter system here, combined with some pretty high amounts of moisture for this time of year.”
The exceptionally warm 73-degree weather Emporia enjoyed on Monday still remained in Arkansas and Tennessee when the winter storm and its cold air moved in and clashed.
“It was basically the same overall storm system, but they were in the warm, humid air and we were back in the cold winter air,” Poage said.
The snowfall here from Tuesday evening to this morning was approximately 3 to 4 inches. No official reading was available at press time.
Six non-injury accidents were reported in the county overnight and early this morning, and seven were reported within Emporia.
Snow stopped falling here around 6:30 a.m. and by 9 a.m. the sun had begun to shine. North of Lyon County, in Wabaunsee County, residents were not as fortunate.
Snowfall at Alma was estimated to be a foot or more, with considerable drifting, and snow was still coming down shortly after 9 a.m.
Chase County to the west also received an unofficial 3 to 4 inches of snow, and to the southeast of here, in Coffey County, snowfall was estimated at about 2 to 3 inches. Approximately 4 inches of snow was reported unofficially in Osage County at Lyndon.
No serious accidents had been reported in Emporia and the surrounding area, although a number of counties reported vehicles sliding off the roadways.
In Coffey County, U.S. Highway 75 was described as snowpacked and icy, as was Interstate Highway 35.
Winds caused the snow to drift throughout the area, prompting most area schools to cancel classes today.
Poage predicted that weather would improve on Thursday.
“You’ll have clouds to deal with in the morning,” he said, “highs around 34, so maybe a little bit of melting.”
By Friday, warmer air is expected to move in, bringing highs around the mid-40’s, he said.