During a roughly 22-hour period from the early afternoon of Monday the 19th through late morning of Tuesday the 20th, this six-county portion of North Central Kansas experienced quite a north-to-south contrast in snowfall amounts, ranging from barely a trace along the Nebraska border, to a widespread 6 to locally 8 inches across mainly southern portions of Rooks, Osborne and Mitchell Counties. In between these two extremes, locations between the Highway 36 and Highway 24 corridors generally ranged from 0.5 to 4 inches. Per reports from various sources, some of the highest totals fell at Zurich (8 inches), Hunter (6 inches), Natoma (6 inches) and 17 miles south of Osborne (6 inches). As it turned out, this portion of North Central Kansas only caught the very northern edge of a significant winter storm that slammed much of western and central Kansas with even higher snow totals of 8-15 inches. In addition to the snow itself, north-northeast winds became a factor during this event.  Sustained speeds of around 20 MPH and gusts to around 35 MPH resulted in considerable drifting and visibility restrictions, especially on the evening of the 19th as surface low pressure intensified in Texas and western Oklahoma.
In the mid and upper levels, the main player behind this snowfall was a powerful closed low ejecting from eastern New Mexico on the afternoon of the 19th, to eastern Kansas on the afternoon of the 20th, although gradually weakening as it churned northeast. Most of the heavier snow bands were concentrated in the first several hours of the event between the mid-afternoon and mid-evening of the 19th, as upper level diffluence and attendant mid level frontogenesis peaked in intensity between the closed low approaching from the southwest, and the entrance region of a strong northern stream jet streak centered from northern Iowa across the Great Lakes. At the same time, the sharp north edge of accumulating snowfall was reinforced by the intrusion of dry low level air from a nearby surface ridge axis. Although bands of moderate to heavy snow became a bit more fragmented by midnight of the 20th, occasional flare-ups of banded snow continued through the late night and into the day, before largely ending by late morning. For several days after this event, a daily temperature gradient of at least 5-10 degrees took shape between areas nearer the Nebraska border with little to no snow cover, and the deeper snow pack across southern portions of Rooks, Osborne and Mitchell Counties.

Winter Storm in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 19-DEC-11 15:00:00 to 20-DEC-11 10:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Snowfall totals ranged from near an inch in the northern part of the county to 8 inches in the extreme south.

Winter Storm in OSBORNE, KANSAS
From 19-DEC-11 15:00:00 to 20-DEC-11 10:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Snowfall totals ranged from near 2 inches in the northern part of the county to 7 inches in the extreme south.

Winter Storm in MITCHELL, KANSAS
From 19-DEC-11 15:00:00 to 20-DEC-11 10:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Snowfall totals ranged from near 2 inches in the northern part of the county to 7 inches in the extreme south.