Strong winds behind a cold front moving southeast through eastern Colorado caused winds to gust over 70 MPH during the late morning and afternoon. The high winds blew dirt and sand, which reduced visibilities to a quarter mile at times and caused I-70 to be closed, knocked down power poles and trees, and took the roof off at least one home.  Some of the higher gusts that were reported were 78 MPH at 12 SE of Sharon Springs, 77 MPH at Goodland, 70 MPH at Hoxie, 68 MPH at Weskan, 67 MPH at Bird City, 66 MPH 4 NW of Marienthal, and 64 MPH 4 N of Atwood.

High Wind in WALLACE, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 12:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 16:00:00 (MST-7)
Magnitude: 59.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Reported at Weskan.  Relayed by the KSN-TV station. A wind gust of 53 kts (61 mph) was also reported at a mesonet site 2 S of Wallace.

High Wind in GREELEY, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 12:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 17:00:00 (MST-7)
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 9.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Reports of 12 inch diameter tree limb down along with numerous metal storage buildings and fences damaged.  Numerous homes with shingles blown off.

High Wind in SHERIDAN, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 13:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 61.00 EG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Reported at Hoxie.  High winds took off shingles from roof and blew tree branches down.

High Wind in CHEYENNE, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 12:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 16:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 58.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Reported at Bird City.

High Wind in WALLACE, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 12:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 16:00:00 (MST-7)
Magnitude: 68.00 MG
Property damage: 6.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Reported at 12 SE of Sharon Springs.  At 7 SW of Sharon Springs a mesonet site reported a gust of 67 MPH.  At 8 SSE of Sharon Springs a mesonet site measured a 58 MPH gust.  The high winds blew an electric pole onto a house in Sharon Springs, and a large tree limb fell onto a pickup.

High Wind in THOMAS, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 13:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 57.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: AWOS

Reported from 2 N of Colby.

High Wind in LOGAN, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 13:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 55.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: AWOS

Reported from 2 ESE of Oakley.

High Wind in WICHITA, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 14:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 18:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 57.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Reported from 4 NNW of Marienthal.

High Wind in GOVE, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 13:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 56.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Reported at Grinnell.  Relayed by KSN-TV.

High Wind in GRAHAM, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 13:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 16:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Reported at Hill City.

High Wind in SHERMAN, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 11:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 15:00:00 (MST-7)
Magnitude: 61.00 EG
Property damage: 10.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Barn roof blown off 3 N of Ruleton.

High Wind in RAWLINS, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 12:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 56.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Peak winds were estimated based on mesonet stations in neighboring counties.

High Wind in SHERMAN, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 11:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 16:00:00 (MST-7)
Magnitude: 61.00 EG
Property damage: 11.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Power pole was blown down in Kanorado during the afternoon, causing outages throughout the day.  A seven car accident occurred at 1:20 pm MST 3 W of Ruleton due to the low visibilities.

High Wind in SHERMAN, KANSAS
From 31-DEC-11 11:00:00 to 31-DEC-11 16:00:00 (MST-7)
Magnitude: 67.00 MG
Property damage: 97.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Reported at Goodland.  At 5 W of Goodland a mesonet site reported a peak gust of 73 MPH.  From 1:45 PM MST until 3:30 MST I-70 was closed from Goodland to the Colorado border due to a multi car accident near Ruleton.  At 3 S of Goodland a semi pulling an empty livestock trailer was blown over on K-27.  In Goodland a hundred-year-old tree 18 inch diameter tree was uprooted and a section of roof was blown off a house, landing in the front yard. A gust of 58 mph was reported 12 N of Goodland. After the strongest gust was reported the wind equipment mount was bent over.