february 1, 2011

In early February a major winter storm impacted much of the midwest, including eastern Kansas. Fortunately I was able to watch and document the event from home. The snow began in Lawrence during the early morning hours on February 1. The snow steadily fell during the day at a rate of about 1/2 inch per hour, however at times, the snowfall rate was a little higher. By the mid to late afternoon hours the wind increased to around 30 mph with gusts to around 40 mph. Visibility never really dropped on my block, so I took a short drive around the neighborhood in search of photos of the blizzard. Within 5 minutes of leaving my home I decided that conditions were too bad to drive in, so I turned for home. After getting stuck briefly in a tall snow drift I was able to get home. By the end of the storm the area experienced 6 to 8 inches of snow and at least 3 hours of blizzard conditions. The other story behind this storm was the bitterly cold air that filtered in behind the system. The next two days saw low temperatures of -4 and -8 respectively. 

post event

• NWS Topeka Write-up