WINTER STORM NOW 12/08-11/2007: KS, OK, NE, MO, IA, CO, among others

[Jeremy Ludin]

A very light freezing drizzle last night has left a thin coating of ice on trees and power lines today. Power lines are only designed to take on 1/2" of ice, so it'll definitely be interesting to see how long I'll be w/o power. What a beast! GFS currently has us pegged at 1.15". It's a safe bet I'll have a short work day tomorrow.

 

[Brad Case]

OAX radar updating at http://w0tvs.net

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Noticed Falls City NE jumped from 25 to 27 the last hour as this precip started. So I assume it's around 26 or so here and it is raining now. Interesting to note the snow obs in se NE. Doubt that lasts long.

 

[Jason Bolt]

Rain started here at 3:15, started as a steady rain not freezing. About 6 you could really see it sticking. Now we have est. 1/3" on power lines and trees already. So glad the first couple hours didn't stick. It looks like an inch is possible by midnight or so, not even ready to think about morning. The only good thing is its like the ice is "wet" so to speak vs. frozen solid. Roads aren't bad unless you get onto side streets. I feel bad for people in Eastern KS, NEO and SW MO. I think we are gonna get off easy out this way.

 

[Karen Politte]

Rich, nice to finally see some images out of the area. I'd been waiting for a peek but you're about the first to have them up online - or at least on ST. Probably because nobody has any power. The news stations have been as much use as an underwater candle all through today, unless you want to hear about reporters whining on their Blogs about why they are losing power and wondering what will happen when "the big one" finally comes.

Looks like quite the horrific ice storm. I can't believe OUN finally got nailed. So much for the pit. Makes me kinda grateful for our three-day-long-and-counting severe drizzle event that we are in the middle of.

Your photos from the NWC make me wonder - I wonder how those big flags will react to the ice, or if they're even still there? One would think that, once turned stiff as a board, they'd be fairly susceptible to breakage.

Good luck with the thaw and cleanup.

KL

 

[Maggie Kahman]

Hey, I just put up new pics, link is in my sig.

 

[Bob Hall]

I live in the Maple Ridge subdivision of Tulsa. We have many mature 100 plus year old trees. We have extensive damage. This is my detached garage in the back yard. This pretty much the standard size trees down in this neighborhood. Power and Internet are fairly rare commodities in Tulsa this evening.

 

[AndrewLee]

I'm estimating about 0.25'' - 0.4'' of freezing rain just fell in midtown KC over the last hour. I'll echo Mike's sentiments about the roads being deceptive. It looks like their is standing water but it is all ice just below the surface.

I was personally forecasting about 1.0" for midtown KC through Wednesday morning but given the intensity of this initial round I might need to revise that forecast upwards.

Looks like EAX nailed it this morning with their concern overnight about extreme NE KS and NW MO. Echoes from Topeka to St. Joseph and northward are very impressive.

I'll be interested to see where the freezing line sets up tomorrow.

<sigh> I've been 'itching' to buy a new chainsaw anyway. Stay warm and stay safe.

_____________
Andrew Lee

 

[MClarkson]

Sweet... we had a plane divert to SLN and it didnt get out in time...

Its sure not going anywhere now. I think we will be lucky if its only trapped in an inch of ice.

 

[AndrewLee]

Just a quick update. Intermittent power failures here in midtown KC.


_________
Andrew Lee

 

[John Farley]

Here are a few pictures from the snowy side of the storm in northern New Mexico. The first two were taken Sunday during a break in the storm between the second and third (currently affecting NM weather) shortwaves associated with this system.

Rio Grande Gorge with fresh snow

Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Taos and Red River


The next one was taken today, as the third shortwave, still affecting NM produced high elevation snow and valley rain:

Fresh snow near the 9500 foot level above Santa Fe


Each shortwave has been colder than the previous one. The first one produced mostly rain even up to 10,000 feet and above in NM, but heavy snow farther north in southern CO. The second one produced 20-30+ inches of snow in the mountains in far northern NM, around Taos and Red River, and about 4-5 inches in the town of Taos. Still mainly rain in Santa Fe, though, despite substantial snows generally above the 8500 foot level. The current, ongoing storm, has produced snow down to the 7000 foot level, including Santa Fe, though it did start out as rain at that level.

In southern CO, where it has been all snow in the higher elevations, the snow amouts have been stupendous. The Wolf Creek ski area got over 4 feet in the first wave of snow Thursday-Saturday morning, and another 5 feet since then in the two ensuing waves of snow.

 

[Brad Case]

Light Freezing Rain being reported now at Offutt AFB NE

 

[Alex Lamers]

We never had much in the way of ice storms where I hail from (SE WI) so this was by far the worst ice storm I've ever been a part of. Trees are down all over campus. Re: having exams tomorrow, I'm not quite sure how it will be done unless they are planning on sawing up a bunch of trees overnight. The entrances to Dale Hall are blocked by trees. In fact one that collapsed pushed one of those heavy OU trash cans in the middle of the main entrance path. Also, students who live off campus are looking for a way to stay warm, much less study, as many of them are without power.

Regarding the damage...most if not all trees around campus have some sort of damage. It looks like a war zone. Never seen anything quite like it to be honest. Many large limbs down, some through windshields or on cars. Rows of trees just bent over Asp Avenue. The flag on the North Oval was frozen stiff. A fair sized tree just barely missed my car. Tree limbs were breaking off as people were walking around today. I saw a girl almost get hit on the head by one that was ~1 foot in diameter. In fact they were still breaking as I was just driving about 15 minutes ago.

When I figure out a way to get up pictures, I will.

AJL

 

[Michael O'Keeffe]

Well the heavy rain is moving out of the KC metro we have .3" of rain here at my house. I expect most of the night to go with the more isolated convective thunderstorms similar to that of what happened in OK. I think we are no way out of the clear. By morning the rain will become steady again and we could see an additional .5" or so.

 

[Rhyuan Janssen]

I just heard up to .4 inches of ice in the last HOUR in Kansas City..wow... I am starting to hear whispers of this storm producing more QPF than they had expected...will be interesting to see what happens with morning update.. with the back of the precip shield almost to COLORADO I still wonder why no headlines for those further to the west?