High winds and near blizzard conditions occurred on this Wednesday night and Thursday. On Monday and Tuesday (March 11th and 12th), a low pressure system progressed through Arizona and New Mexico. Tuesday night, this low began rapidly deepening over Colorado. In just 15 h, this low deepened 24 mb from 994 mb to 970 mb. This low broke the all-time sea-level pressure record for the state of Colorado, with 970.4 mb at Lamar. The previous record was 975.0 mb on March 13, 1973.
Periods of rain occurred with this system from late Tuesday night into Wednesday ahead of the occluded front. The rain temporarily ended by 10 AM CST Wednesday, as the front moved north into Nebraska. The next batch of rain developed and blossomed over western Kansas Wednesday afternoon, due to destabilization associated with daytime heating under the upper low. This resulted in another band of rain moving across north central Kansas late Wednesday afternoon and evening. As the upper-level low moved from northwest Kansas and into Nebraska Wednesday night, a small deformation zone of rain evolved over Nebraska, with its southern edge extending south into north central Kansas. As cold air advection cooled the lower troposphere, the rain changed to snow after midnight. Snow fell primarily across Phillips, Smith, and Jewell counties from 1 AM CST to 9 AM CST Thursday. This snow fell during windy conditions. By sunrise Thursday, the surface low had filled, but was still 984 mb over western Iowa, with a 22 mb pressure gradient across Kansas, from northeast to southwest.
Windy conditions occurred from Wednesday evening into Thursday, but there were two periods in which high winds occurred. The first was immediately after the passage of the 980 mb low Wednesday evening. A few gusts were measured as high as 58 mph over Rooks county. One of them was from official measuring equipment at the Rooks County airport. The second period was Thursday around midday, after the snow ended. Again, only one of the gusts occurred with official measuring equipment. That gust of 58 mph occurred at the Rooks County airport. Official weather stations over Phillips and Smith counties measured peak wind gusts of 51 and 56 mph, respectively.
Snowfall amounts were generally 1 to 2 inches across Phillips, Smith, and Jewell counties. The highest amount was 3 inches in Smith Center. Where snow fell across Rooks, Osborne, and Mitchell counties, accumulation was less than a half inch. While the snow was falling, northwest winds were sustained around 30 MPH, with gusts around 45 MPH. Presumably, these winds combined with the snow to produce blizzard or near blizzard conditions at times, across Phillips, Smith, and Jewell counties.

High Wind in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 13-MAR-19 21:39:00 to 13-MAR-19 21:39:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet located 5 miles south-southwest of Stockton.

High Wind in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 13-MAR-19 21:07:00 to 13-MAR-19 21:07:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet located 8 miles north-northeast of Codell.

High Wind in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 14-MAR-19 11:36:00 to 14-MAR-19 11:36:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: AWOS

A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by the Stockton Airport AWOS.

High Wind in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 13-MAR-19 22:07:00 to 13-MAR-19 22:07:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet located 6 miles north-northwest of Natoma.

High Wind in PHILLIPS, KANSAS
From 14-MAR-19 05:53:00 to 14-MAR-19 05:53:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 60 MPH was measured by a mesonet located 1 mile west of Logan.

High Wind in SMITH, KANSAS
From 14-MAR-19 07:11:00 to 14-MAR-19 07:11:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 60 MPH was measured by a mesonet located 8 miles north of Bellaire.

High Wind in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 14-MAR-19 00:59:00 to 14-MAR-19 00:59:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet located 8 miles north-northeast of Codell.

Blizzard in PHILLIPS, KANSAS
From 14-MAR-19 00:00:00 to 14-MAR-19 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Blizzard in SMITH, KANSAS
From 14-MAR-19 02:00:00 to 14-MAR-19 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Blizzard in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 14-MAR-19 04:00:00 to 14-MAR-19 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager