2017-02-13

Author: Mary Knapp

Valentine’s Day can be a mixed bag when speaking of Kansas Weather. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the state fell just a day earlier on February 13th, 1905 when Lebanon saw temperatures plummet to -40 °F. In 1991, the 14th saw a black blizzard when strong winds caused a blackout from dust over much of western Kansas. The visibility decreased to zero for several hours during the day, forcing the closure of interstate 70 west of Russell. A 33 car pileup occurred about 7 miles east of Goodland resulting in several injuries but no fatalities. And just two years later in 1993, it was a regular snowstorm with heavy snowfall ranging from 12 inches near Dodge City to 7 inches near Greensburg.

Dust Storm (public domain)

Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu