It looks like we will not have a 'white Christmas' this year. But, do you remember was we experienced one year ago on this day (2022)?
A pair of 'Snow Squall Warnings' were issued after 6:00 a.m. by the National Weather Service; at 8:00 a.m., Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita reported a wind chill of -32, the coldest wind chill reported at the airport in 22 years. There was very heavy snow, low visibility, and dangerous travel conditions for the Thursday morning commute.
The National Weather Service says this was the first Snow Squall Warning ever issued for the city of Wichita.
It was part of an arctic outbreak encroaching on the state the day before. Ahead of the arctic front in Central and South Central Kansas, dense fog changed to freezing fog with some areas getting snow grains.
The snow grains were so heavy that a dusting of them occured in Wichita, very rare to occur with snow grains. Hutchinson, Lyons and McPherson reported significant rime from the freezing fog with some reports of rime needles as long as one inch on trees and power lines.
By the early afternoon on December 21, the snow grains and freezing fog transitioned to freezing drizzle causing roadways become a skating rink. More than 85 accidents occurred across much of Central and South Central Kansas in as little as 20 minutes because of the rapidly deteriorating conditions.
When the arctic front arrived across Central and South Central Kansas around midnight, temperatures dropped from just below freezing to below zero in less than two hours on December 22; wind gusts up to 70 m.p.h. were recorded across the region. Heavy snow and snow squalls also became a problem during the night and early on the 22nd, wreaking havoc on travel across the state closing state roads.