Plains blizzard: Drifts 4-6 ft. high, gusts to 80 m.p.h.
The weather was in rare form here with 60° temperatures Monday—but downright brutal across the Plains, a region lashed by blizzard conditions. So fierce were wind gusts there that dust and soil were mixed with the falling and blowing snow. Goodland, Kan. recorded its 9th windiest day ever since 1896, logging 64 m.p.h. wind gusts. At nearby Ruleton, winds reached hurricane force, topping out at 77 m.p.h. Flagler, Colo. clocked 79 m.p.h. winds. Farther east, sections of northeast Nebraska were coated with a thick layer of ice after 1” of freezing rain and sleet hit the area only to be followed by 8-13” of snow whipped by 50-60 m.p.h. gusts. Topping reports of snowfall was the 14” reported at Gregory, South Dakota. There, 50+ m.p.h. winds built 5 ft. drifts.
Chicago’s 61° high Monday morning was only the 89th reading in 135 years to pass 60° this late in the season. Of the 4,590 total highs at or above 60° on the books here since 1871, fewer than 2% occur November 28 or later.