It was a storm like no other and now it is a record breaker.
A blizzard on March 27-28 in Pratt and Pratt County dumped 30 inches of snow in 24 hours becoming the most inches of snow in a 24-hour period in the history of the state, said Mary Knapp, state climatologist.
The National Climatic Data Center in Ashville, N.C. is the official repository for weather records in the U.S. They are near the end of the verification process but it will be a state record.
“We have a few hoops to go through but when all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed it will be a new state record,” Knapp said.
Several weather stations in the county measured 30 inches of snow providing strong evidence that the storm was a record breaker.
Once the verification process is complete Pratt will receive official notification of the record.
While this storm was a once in a lifetime event, it doesn’t mean it can’t happen again. It is possible to get a blizzard of this magnitude again it is very unlikely it will happen again any time soon, Knapp said.
“The likely hood of having it again is very, very small,” Knapp said. “On the average you wouldn’t expect it. But I’m not saying it won’t happen.”
Although it isn’t likely, the long range forecast includes elements that could combine and produce another blizzard.
The $64 question is what will be the characteristics of winter 2010? If fall is any indication it could be an interesting winter. An October blizzard in northwest Kansas closed I-70 and dumped six, seven and eight inches of snow. October snows are unusual but one in 2006 also yielded a big snowfall, Knapp said.
Ample moisture is necessary to produce big snowfalls and lots of moisture was in place in the March blizzard. The more moisture in the air the bigger the snowflakes get. Early spring storms are fed with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico to produce big, wet flakes and that is what happened in March.
The 30-inch snow had high liquid values. Every inch of snow had a tenth of an inch of liquid and that is pretty wet snow,” Knapp said.
It was one of the warmer storms of the season. A storm out of the four corners region trapped gulf moisture right over Pratt County. It was stationary and pulled in lots of moisture making big snowflakes and deep snow deposits. The band of heavy snow was narrow and towns close to Pratt only saw a couple of inches of snow.
Whether or not another storm will pull a repeat of a 30-inch snow is difficult to predict. The dynamics of each individual storm are different. One thing that might help create another big snow is the global circulation patterns indicate that an El Nino winter is approaching when ocean temperatures are warmer than normal and that could push moisture into the area, Knapp said.
Warmer than average temperatures and above average moisture is predicted and those factors are necessary for a big snowfall.
Historically, December, January and February are the driest months of the year in Kansas so it is unlikely any storms will happen this fall or early winter. But once March rolls around, more moisture starts to roll in and big snowstorms could develop.
Kansas is in an area of the U.S. that has a history of big storms and Pratt is in the southern part of Kansas that also has a history of big storms.
Northwest Kansas also has a storm history but that weather tends to have less moisture and small accumulations.
Weather patterns with lots of moisture were present in Kansas in 1992 and 1993. A very wet winter in 1992 was followed with another wet winter in 1992/1993. Those high snowfalls coupled with ample rains in spring 1993 led to record flooding.
Pratt, Kan. —
