Wichita, Kansas

Weather Forecast Office

December 15, 2021 Historic Wind and Fire Event

Overview

A record-breaking, and historic, wind event caused widespread damage across much of the Great Plains, including Kansas. The event also led to numerous grassfires, severe weather, damaging wind gusts, and blowing dust.

Large, expansive area impacted by multiple hazards

Wind & Dust
Fire
Photos & Video
Radar
Environment & Science

Wind & Dust:

Widespread damaging winds occurred across all of central and southern Kansas, including wind gusts as high as 70-100 mph. For a complete listing of the peak wind gusts, please check out this Public Information Statement. In addition to the wind, widespread blowing dust developed thanks to the very dry conditions of late.

Wind and dust


Peak wind gusts (mph) across central and southern Kansas	Peak wind gusts (mph) across Kansas, courtesy the Kansas Mesonet	1 pm Satellite Imagery. Widespread blowing dust is being detected across western Kansas.
Map of road closures due to high winds and dust courtesy of the Kansas Department of Transportation	Satellite showing dust(yellow) being picked up by strong winds	Geocolor satellite image showing dust(yellow) being picked up by strong winds

Here is a brief look at both the estimated and observed maximum wind gusts across the central U.S. for the 24 hour period ending 9 am CT. For a more detailed list, visit WPC's storm summary (https://t.co/9LGn1JoXUA). Local NWS forecast offices will have more information as well. pic.twitter.com/1o7oISiwaK
— NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) December 16, 2021

As a powerful storm is currently sweeping through the Plains, the #GOES16 🛰️ watched it sweep up dust as winds gusted ~80-100 mph in some places.

This type of imagery highlights dust as bright yellow so it's easier to see. Learn more about it: https://t.co/KsTbJEiknM pic.twitter.com/W4g7Hp6hfJ
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) December 15, 2021

Fire:

Numerous grassfires developed from western into central Kansas including a very large fire across north-central Kansas (Ellis and Russell counties).

Fire

3pm - Satellite-detected grassfires across western and central Kansas, with radar imagery showing the smoke plumes

4pm - Zoomed in view of a satellite-detected large grassfire north of Russell, Kansas

Satellite imagery showing the burn scar from the fire.

Polar satellite nighttime imagery showing outer edges of the large fire in Ellis and Russell counties as well as city lights.

Satellite showing fires(black) starting as high winds move through

This sums up the force of the winds. Semi blown over sitting in charred, black fields that stretch as far as I can see. #paradisefire #ksfires #kswx @NWSWichita pic.twitter.com/Ekhviz1XKb
— Jonathan Petramala (@jpetramala) December 16, 2021

The @KansasGuard helping knock down hot spots! Grateful the wind is low enough they can fly today! Video from @ksufearless #ksfire #kswx pic.twitter.com/4N4F7H55rw
— Frank Waugh, CBM KAKE (@FrankWaughKAKE) December 16, 2021

Photos & Video

A security camera captured video of yesterday's wind ripping a storage building off the ground in Hutchinson. The peak wind gust in Hutch around this time was 84 mph. https://t.co/JW12wyv1VY #KAKEnews #KSwx pic.twitter.com/0EUPLp9DB6 — KAKE News (@KAKEnews) December 16, 2021	We’re about 10 miles south of Paradise. Fires all around us. We’ve heard of houses burned down and lots of damage, but aren’t sure yet quite how widespread it is. #KAKENews pic.twitter.com/AvZCAkoX1H — Eli Higgins (@EliTheTVGuy) December 16, 2021	Widespread damage included this toppled church steeple in Great Bend. Thanks to Larrie Henning for sharing this shot. You can see much more of storms' impact across Kansas here: >> https://t.co/1YZTgAI7zz pic.twitter.com/FCQpN7rCkp — KWCH Eyewitness News (@KWCH12) December 16, 2021
.@NWSWichita tree down, Speaker & Railroad Ave, Nickerson. Just SW of downtown. #kswx pic.twitter.com/yJlZgGWahS — Chaser Scott Roberts (@KSStormInfo) December 15, 2021	@NWSWichita in Augusta, ks pic.twitter.com/b5NtkM5nwn — Michael Lunnam (@Stormchaser953) December 16, 2021	.@NWSWichita semi overturned 3 E of Great Bend on U56. #kswx pic.twitter.com/igWGBD9f0p — Chaser Scott Roberts (@KSStormInfo) December 15, 2021
One of numerous homes burned in Russell county #Kansas. This one in the town of #Paradise. Many #wildfires are still burning. pic.twitter.com/iis6Qe6Gz1 — WxChasing- Brandon Clement (@bclemms) December 16, 2021	STAY HOME! Do not drive! Be safe!#KSwx pic.twitter.com/LC3fKlM9Iy — Trooper Ben (@TrooperBenKHP) December 15, 2021	The tree damage on the west side of Hutchinson was historic today.#kswx @NWSWichita pic.twitter.com/iy2jXKID3k — Kellie Swain (@KellieS23) December 16, 2021
The @KansasGuard helping knock down hot spots! Grateful the wind is low enough they can fly today! Video from @ksufearless #ksfire #kswx pic.twitter.com/4N4F7H55rw — Frank Waugh, CBM KAKE (@FrankWaughKAKE) December 16, 2021

Radar Loop

A line of strong to severe storms developed throughout the afternoon and evening moving across central, south central, and southeast Kansas. While multiple severe wind gusts were measured in association with these storms, many of the days strongest observed wind gusts were not associated with the line of storms.


	Radar loop of the severe convective line that pushed through the area on the afternoon and evening of Wednesday, December 15, 2021.

Environment & Science

An anomalously strong storm system moved out of the Rockies and raced across the Central Plains, bringing numerous hazards to much of the Great Plains. This event is noteworthy because of how unusually strong it was, especially for this time of year. The maps below show the environment the led to this impactful event.


3pm 500mb Plot. Shows the upper level storm system that was moving across the Central Plains. Note the unusually strong, 120kt winds over Kansas (known as the mid level jet).	3 pm Surface Map. This shows the location of a strong surface low, and associated dryline. The dryline raced east-northeast across western and central Kansas, accompanied by a narrow line of thunderstorms and very strong winds.	3 pm Surface Map and Jet. Strong winds aloft overspreading a very dry airmass allowed for the rapid spread of grassfires that developed from western into central Kansas. This is a dangerous fire weather setup, known as a fire outbreak setup.


3 pm Surface Map and Lapse Rates. Steep lapse rates help stronger winds aloft to mix down to the surface. The steeper the lapse rates, the higher into the atmosphere the winds can be tapped into.	3 pm Surface Map and MLCAPE. MLCAPE is a measure of instability. The area outlined in red shows a narrow zone of unstable air ahead of the dryline. This combined with a weakening "cap" allowed a line of thunderstorms to develop.	3 pm Effective Shear. Shear is what allows thunderstorms to organize and potentially become severe. Higher values, like with this event, often lead to a higher risk of severe thunderstorms.


Precipitation Percent of Normal (since Nov 1, 2021). Abnormally dry weather preceded the December 15th event, allowing widespread blowing dust to develop.	A look at the Extreme Forecast Index from the ECMWF along with the shift of tails.	A look at the Extreme Forecast Index from the ECMWF along with the shift of tails.
Topeka's sounding came in late and they nailed this one. Shift the scales, it's an all-time record by a mile. 82 kt wind at 850 hPa is absurd for any time of year. Beats all >48,000 soundings in this record. pic.twitter.com/LNLs7Z5hyT — Ryan Stauffer (@ryans_wx) December 16, 2021

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