Area residents had to contend with a windy, increasingly wintry day Sunday.
Temperatures fell from the mid-60s around 2 am Sunday to the teens by 2 am Monday. Gusts, meanwhile were between 40 to over 60 mph from around 8 am to around midnight, driving overnight wind chills down to -8 in Emporia:
*Emporia; 59 mph
*5 miles northwest of Elmdale: 58 mph
*Eureka Milliken Airport: 55 mph
*Gridley: 62 mph
*1 mile southwest of Lebo: 60 mph
*Madison: 59 mph
*Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve: 55 mph
For reference, 58 mph is the equivalent of severe thunderstorm wind gusts.
Anything not secured was at risk of flying away, and numerous Polycarts and recycling bins were knocked over. Council Grove also reported several tree limbs of at least 4-inch diameter blown down due to the wind. There were several scattered small power outages that developed through the day as well.
As of 3 am Monday, there have not been any travel slowdowns areawide, but US HIghway 56 was listed as having icy patches from the Lyon-Osage county line west to Admire, as was Kansas Highway 99 north of the US-56 junction. Those have since cleared.
Monday’s winds won’t be as strong as they were Sunday, but there will still be a very high fire danger areawide. High temperatures in the mid-30s will be accompanied by wind gusts as high as 35 mph and relative humidity levels around 20 percent for the afternoon and early-evening hours. Chase County is in a burn ban through at least Tuesday. Coffey and Osage counties are in burn bans until further notice.
The forecast indicates this could be the last time we see winter in a while. High temperatures climb to near 90 degrees by Saturday.
If you have storm reports or peak wind gust information, message the KVOE Bluestem Farm and Ranch Supply text line at 620-342-5863.
