In the middle of January, the weather forecasters started warning of a huge weather change for the weekend of January 14. Lory Williams (KBUF, Garden City, KS) reports, “In southwest Kansas, we had enjoyed warmer temperatures for a couple of weeks. I always find it interesting when the warnings come, because some listeners just brush it off. Our place is 30 miles from town, with livestock, so, we pay attention to the warnings. We haven’t forgotten 2009 when power poles snapped, and we were without power 14 days. All the generators in the area were gone, and, hauling livestock water was a daily ritual. This time, we were without power for only a few hours.” She added, “Thankfully, the Garden City area was spared with just some ice and snow, and a few outages, but, nothing devastating. However, to the south and east 50 miles to Dodge City, it looked like a tornado had hit with downed power lines and trees. There were close to 10,000 residents, city and country, without power for over a week. So, our livestock friends were hustling to keep livestock fed and watered. Of course, in this area of agriculture, we try not to complain about moisture, and this storm netted anywhere up to over an inch. This contributed to very muddy feedlots and dirt roads. Kansas State Research Wheat and Forage Specialist Romula Lollato has advised producers to inspect their wheat fields. He emphasized that the ice and bitter cold, the way it arrived, probably didn’t hurt the wheat as much as one might expect. “Once again, we wait, until the wheat wakes up to see what kind of damage may have occurred,” Lory said.
