Between the afternoon of Wednesday the 15th and mid-morning of Thursday the 16th, this six-county North Central Kansas area experienced a moderately-strong winter storm that deposited widespread snow totals of mainly 3-7 inches, with limited higher/lower exceptions. Per a mix of official observations and NOHRSC analysis, the highest concentration of 6+ amounts focused within parts of Rooks/Phillips counties, along with perhaps the northern reaches of Smith/Jewell counties. On the lower end of the spectrum, most of Mitchell and southern Jewell counties saw no more than 2 (including merely 0.3 in Beloit), due to this portion of the area being most impacted by the mid-level dry slot of the responsible storm system. Though not overly-strong by Central Plains standards, north winds were certainly a factor as well, with sustained speeds commonly 20-25 MPH/gusts 30-35 MPH prompting modest blowing/drifting. According to around 20 NWS and CoCoRaHS observers, some of the very-highest totals featured: 8.8 four miles west-northwest of Plainville, 6.0 at Kirwin Dam and also six miles east of Phillipsburg, 5.5 ten miles west-northwest of Stockton and 5.0 in Logan. Although this snow contained a beneficial dose of much-needed liquid moisture content, it was also a somewhat dry in nature given that temperatures were fairly cold, averaging in the teens (F). This blanket of fresh snow did not stick around very long, as a steady warm-up into the 40s-50s between the 17th-19th spurred a steady melt-off.
Taking a closer look at the timing and meteorological background behind this event, the first bands of light snow lifted across the area from south-to-north mainly between 12-3 p.m. on the 15th, laying down a thin coating on roads for the evening commute. However, the main event clearly unfolded under the cover of darkness, with the heaviest snow bands slowly traversing North Central Kansas from west-to-east between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. on the 16th, with most areas catching a break in snow intensity prior to the main morning commute. In the mid-upper levels, the primary player was a large-scale, positively-tilted trough slowly shifting across the central United States. In the mid-levels (particularly evident at 700 millibars), a compact, closed low intensified directly overhead during the night as it lifted northeast out of eastern Colorado. Strong frontogenetical forcing under this low subsequently prompted the development of a relatively narrow/focused mesoscale snow band, with amounts of 6+ inches within/near the local area largely confined to a west-southwest to east-northeast swath only about 40 miles wide. At the surface, North Central Kansas resided well to the north of a sharp frontal zone stretched from the Southern Plains into the Ohio Valley, with the seasonably-cold airmass and gusty north winds driven by a healthy pressure gradient between a 1003 millibar low that tracked from Oklahoma into Arkansas during the night and a sprawling 1033 millibar high centered over the Northern Rockies.

Winter Weather in OSBORNE, KANSAS
From 15-FEB-23 21:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 05:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 2 to 5 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 4 inches, measured by emergency management in Osborne; 3 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Natoma and also by a CoCoRaHS observer seven miles north-northeast of Natoma.

Winter Storm in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 15-FEB-23 20:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 05:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 4 to 9 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 8.8 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer four miles west-northwest of Plainville; 5.5 inches, measured by a CoCoRaHS observer seven miles north of Webster State Park; 4.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer at Webster Dam.

Winter Storm in PHILLIPS, KANSAS
From 15-FEB-23 14:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 4 to 9 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 6.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer at Kirwin Dam and also by a CoCoRaHS Observer six miles east of Phillipsburg; 5.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Logan; 4.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Phillipsburg.

Winter Storm in SMITH, KANSAS
From 15-FEB-23 14:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 3 to 7 inches across the county, with the higher amounts across far northern areas. Measurements of 4.0 inches were reported by NWS Cooperative Observers in Smith Center and Lebanon.

Winter Storm in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 15-FEB-23 14:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 3 to 7 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included 3.5 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer at Lovewell Dam and 2.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer at Ionia.