The end of October can bring some truly frightening weather. On October 30th, 1991 a strong winter storm brought southwest Kansas its first snowfall for the year, dumping up to 14 inches in Garden City. There was enough heavy snow in Johnson to collapse a large storage shed. Slippery roads caused a lot of havoc and claimed the life of a child in an automobile accident. Bitter cold temperatures also accompanied the heavy snows, and wind gusts to 45 mph brought wind chills down to the 20 below zero range. The frigid conditions and blowing snow claimed the lives of two men, both of exposure in separate incidents. Both men tried to walk to safety after getting stuck in the snow. The system continued east, bringing an epic storm to the upper Midwest for Halloween.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu