Of the three crashes that happened on a slick Interstate 35 between 11 am and 12:30 pm Saturday, two led to people being taken to Newman Regional Health afterward.
Emporia Fire took one person to NRH after a semi crashed at mile marker 139, between Road U and the Hartford-Neosho Rapids exit. They also took one person to the hospital after an SUV crashed near the Burlingame Road exit shortly afterward. A second semi wreck near the Burlingame Road exit was reported as an injury crash but nobody was hospitalized afterward.
Details about the crashes are currently pending.
Meanwhile, with another round of light snow possible by midnight, air temperatures have been falling from the low 20s to around 10 above and wind chills approached -10 by mid-afternoon. Concerns about even colder wind chills prompted the National Weather Service to alter the timeline for wind chill advisories originally set to begin at midnight for Chase and Greenwood counties. The Chase County wind chill advisory start time was adjusted to shortly before 1 pm, while the Greenwood County start time now begins at 6 pm Saturday. Both tentatively end at 11 am Sunday with wind chills as low as -15 possible.
For Lyon and all other neighboring counties, a wind chill advisory runs from midnight to 11 am Sunday. Wind chills could be -10 to -20.
And with the poor travel conditions and biting cold, there were a handful of schedule adjustments announced. Click here to view the current list. If you have schedule adjustments to report, whether they are closings, cancellations, postponements or delays, call KVOE at 620-342-1400. You can also:
*Email kvoe@kvoe.com.
*Message Twitter@kvoeam1400 or Facebook@kvoenews.
*Message the Bluestem Farm and Ranch text line at 620-342-5863.
To track road conditions across the area and the state, go online to www.kandrive.org.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates. If you haven’t already done so, join KVOE on Facebook and Instagram — both @kvoenews — and Twitter@kvoeam1400. Also, be sure to download KVOE’s free mobile app so you can get our winter weather coverage wherever you may be.
1:30 pm Saturday: Rash of lunchtime crashes on Interstate 35 prompts authorities to urge drivers — again — to stay home
Local law enforcement and first responders have been active to say the least with the area’s first winter storm of the season, even though accumulations are — on the surface — less than impressive.
Between 11 am and 12:30 pm, Lyon County deputies and Emporia Fire worked several reported injury crashes on Interstate 35 from the Merchant Street exit to mile marker 139 near the Hartford-Neosho Rapids exit. Most were minor and involved people wanting an on-site medical check-up. Details on how many people went to Newman Regional Health are currently pending.
The amount of emergency traffic by late morning prompted Lyon County authorities to stay home if at all possible, given a thin glaze of ice that had already caused numerous non-injury crashes despite treatments by city, county and KDOT crews, followed by a dusting to an inch of light snowfall.
Meanwhile, Evergy crews spent much of Saturday morning resolving major power outages across the north half of the KVOE listening area.
The last of the set hit the east half of Emporia and stretched to near Roads 170 and T shortly before 10:30 am. Early indications are a downed power line at least contributed to the outage, which was restored by 1 pm.
The largest outage impacted most of Osage County. It started shortly after 6 am and affected almost 2,500 Evergy customers before it was resolved.
The first large-scale outage started around 4 am and covered most of northwest Lyon County, including Allen, Americus and Bushong.
11 am Saturday: Road crews fighting uphill battle with wintry precipitation mix, cooling temperatures; major outage over for east Emporia
The combination of wintry precipitation and plunging temperatures below 20 degrees did nothing to help area drivers — or road crews, for that matter, on Saturday.
Emporia crews started spreading a mix of salt and hadite after being called out around 3:30 am, while Lyon County road crews went out about the same time to treat roads. Emporia Public Works Director Dean Grant said drivers concentrated on the normal spots: downtown, city arterials and collector streets and Newman Regional Health. He says the game plan for the rest of Saturday largely depends on the amount of snow we get.
Hadite loses its effectiveness as a melting agent below 25 degrees, but it is still effective for traction in these conditions.
Several non-injury slideoffs or other crashes have been reported near Emporia since around 3 am, and area counties are reporting isolated to widespread icy travels as of mid-morning Saturday. To this point, the only confirmed injury crash happened in the 2300 block of Burlingame Road around 6:30 am. Lyon County Deputy Eric Williams says 21-year-old James Richardson of Emporia was southbound on Burlingame Road when he hit an ice patch and his truck went into a nearby ditch. Initially, there was word of suspected minor injuries, but Williams says Richardson was not wearing his seatbelt and had potentially serious injuries before being transported to Newman Regional Health for medical care.
The most notable non-injury crash involved a KDOT materials spreader and a semi on the west edge of Emporia. The materials vehicle apparently slid into the semi, which was on the northbound onramp connecting the west Emporia roundabouts to Interstate 35. The onramp was shut down briefly to let tow trucks get onsite.
Street crews may not be out again unless Emporia gets two inches of snow or more, and some projections say that’s unlikely.
Grant encourages residents to stay home unless it’s unavoidable. Drivers out and about through Sunday need to realize there will still be ice on roads, even with the light snowfall expected through Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, Evergy continues working to restore power after another major outage for the area. Shortly before 10:20 am, stoplights were listed as out at Sixth and Commercial and Sixth and Mechanic. Shortly thereafter, Evergy posted an update to its online outage map indicating over 1,700 customers from east of Commercial to near Road 170 and T were impacted.
The east Emporia outage followed a roughly 2,500-customer outage impacting most of Osage County and a 700-customer outage for northwest Lyon County, including residents of Americus, Allen and Bushong. Those outages took up to four hours to resolve.
Winter weather advisories continue until midnight. Those will be followed by wind chill advisories for Lyon, Chase, Coffey, Morris, Osage and Wabaunsee counties from midnight to 11 am Sunday with wind chills possibly reaching -10 to -20.
10:30 am Saturday: Significant power outage for east half of Emporia; major power outages in northwest Lyon, central Osage counties resolved
The latest large-scale power outage for Evergy residents involves east Emporia and areas a few miles to the east of the city.
Shortly before 10:20 am, stoplights were listed as out at Sixth and Commercial and Sixth and Mechanic. Shortly thereafter, Evergy posted an update to its online outage map indicating over 1,700 customers from east of Commercial to near Road 170 and T were impacted.
Early indications have the power being restored by noon. A cause has not been determined.
Meanwhile, two significant power outages for Evergy customers near Emporia have been resolved.
Most of Evergy’s territory in Osage County, along with part of far north Coffey County, lost power around 6 am. The outage initially affected around 2,500 customers. It was brought down to around 600 after 7 am but then swelled to near the original number before being eliminated.
Another 700 customers lost power as part of a series of outages in northwest Lyon County starting around 4 am. The outages affected residents from Americus north to Bushong and Allen, as well as a handful of customers northwest of Americus. Those outages were resolved around 8 am.
Causes have not been announced.
7-10 am Saturday: Emporia man suffers potentially serious injuries after pickup hits icy patch; travel slick and slow areawide
If you have to be out and about Saturday, be advised the travel conditions are bad.
A combination of rain, freezing rain and/or sleet have caused a thin layer of ice across the entire KVOE listening area. Very slick conditions are in place areawide. Most area highways are partly to completely covered, even though crews at the city, county and state levels have been treating roads since around 3:30 am, if not earlier.
Several non-injury slideoffs or other crashes have been reported near Emporia since around 3 am, and area counties are reporting isolated to widespread icy travels as of mid-morning Saturday.
To this point, the only confirmed injury crash happened in the 2300 block of Burlingame Road, about six miles northeast of Emporia, around 6:30 am. Lyon County Deputy Eric Williams says 21-year-old James Richardson of Emporia was southbound on Burlingame Road when he hit an ice patch and his truck went into a nearby ditch. Initially, there was word of suspected minor injuries, but Williams says Richardson was not wearing his seatbelt and had potentially serious injuries before being transported to Newman Regional Health for medical care.
The wintry mix prevalent since before 2 am in some spots should give way to light snowfall by early afternoon. Up to 4 inches of snow are expected north of Emporia, with as much as 2 inches for Emporia. TV-13 meteorologist Doug Meyers is asking drivers to be careful all day.
Emporia Police Office Dominick Vortherms agrees.
Winter weather advisories continue until midnight. Those will be followed by wind chill advisories for Lyon, Chase, Coffey, Morris, Osage and Wabaunsee counties from midnight to 11 am Sunday with wind chills possibly reaching -10 to -20.
On top of the travel issues, power supply is now a concern for better than 2,000 Evergy customers across the area. By far, the biggest outage involves most of Osage County and far north Coffey County near Waverly. Almost 2,500 customers lost power shortly after 6 am, including areas just east of Osage City like Lyndon and Melvern. That outage number had been trimmed to around 600 but grew back to near the original number shortly before 8 am. Also, close to 700 customers in northwest Lyon County mainly from Americus to Bushong and Allen, lost power around 4 am. Less than 30 outages remain. The Council Grove area has a handful of small outages. Originally, over 3,000 Evergy customers lost power in these areas.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates. If you haven’t already done so, join KVOE on Facebook and Instagram — both @kvoenews — and Twitter@kvoeam1400. Also, be sure to download KVOE’s free mobile app so you can get our winter weather coverage wherever you may be.
3-7 am Saturday: Black ice commonplace across area as we start New Year 2022; major power outage affecting Osage County
A wintry glaze now notable across the KVOE listening area isn’t thick — but it is causing a lot of problems for travelers.
Driving conditions are reported as icy in Emporia and across much of the area with a combination of rain, freezing rain and/or sleet underway since around 1:30 am. Besides local travel, highway travel is slick. Several non-injury slideoffs or other crashes have been reported near Emporia since around 3 am, including a crash involving a KDOT material spreader and semi near the roundabout connecting Interstate 35 directly to the Kansas Turnpike. No injuries were reported after the wreck, which happened on the northbound onramp to I-35. The onramp is currently blocked.
Around 4 am, most area highways had seasonal travel conditions, or isolated to widely scattered icing. Now most area highways are partially to completely covered.
Bitterly cold air will follow the snowfall. Wind chill advisories have now been posted for Lyon, Chase, Coffey, Morris, Osage and Wabaunsee counties from midnight to 11 am Sunday with wind chills possibly reaching -10 to -20.
On top of the travel issues, power supply is now a concern for over 3,000 Evergy across the area. By far, the biggest outage involves most of Osage County and far north Coffey County near Waverly. Almost 2,500 customers lost power shortly after 6 am, including areas just east of Osage City like Lyndon and Melvern. Also, close to 700 customers in northwest Lyon County mainly from Americus to Bushong and Allen, lost power around 4 am but those outages have been restored. The Council Grove area has a handful of small outages.
Be sure to stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates. If you haven’t already done so, join KVOE on Facebook and Instagram — both @kvoenews — and Twitter@kvoeam1400. Also, be sure to download KVOE’s free mobile app so you can get our winter weather coverage wherever you may be.
3 am Saturday: Lyon County road crews called out with light icing noted near Emporia; slick highways noted in Chase County
Travel conditions are starting to go downhill as our first winter storm of the season — and the new year — moves in.
A mix of light rain and freezing drizzle began covering Emporia around 1:30 to 1:45 am. Lyon County road crews were called out to start treating roads shortly before 3 am. Freezing drizzle was also reported at the Emporia Municipal Airport by 2:45 am, and at least one semi slideoff was reported east of Emporia shortly after 3 am. Icing on Emporia streets was notable starting around 3:30 am, about the time US Highway 56 was reported slick across the county.
Elsewhere, road crews are out in two area counties. Chase County is reporting slick highways countywide, while driving conditions are listed as OK in Morris County as of 3 am.
A combination of light rain, freezing drizzle and sleet could lead to a thin glaze of icing across the KVOE listening area before light snow begins falling and ultimately takes over by mid-morning. Snow totals should be light: a trace to five inches north to south, with 1-3 inches possible in Emporia. However, gusty north winds as high as 25 mph will cause subzero wind chills into Sunday — possibly in the -10 or lower range early Saturday and again early Sunday — and could also cause blowing and drifting of the snow we receive. Winter weather advisories remain up areawide until midnight.