Ugh…the dreaded “S” word. Some like the snow, but a vast majority aren’t looking forward to having to put up with it. However, the closer we get to the winter months, the more snow makes itself present. The deep cold front that brought rain to our neck of the woods yesterday was also responsible for bringing Great Plains snow over the weekend and some of it was historical!
That’s right, Kansas City broke a snowfall record that was last achieved back in 1898! The earliest snowfall of the season occurred there on Sunday the 14th. The kicker, it was less than a quarter of an inch! But hey, it still counts.
We hear KCI hit a record low of 31 & had some snow! Here is the official #KC @NWS equipment & proof! #KCWX #WX @NWSKansasCity pic.twitter.com/MQ4eWIl2Bg
— Kansas City International Airport (@KCIAirport) October 15, 2018
The earliest snowfall in Kansas City before that was 3.3 inches that fell 120 years ago on October 17th 1898. What’s even more impressive is that Kansas City has only recorded snow in the month of October nine times in recorded history. So, Early season snow is a very rare occurrence for them.
Measurable snowfall is pretty rare during the month of October in KC; only having occurred 7 times since records began. However, yesterday we broke a new record by measuring the earliest snowfall (0.2") which broke the previous record set in 1898. pic.twitter.com/euz0Rafmas
— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) October 15, 2018
Just to give you an idea of how long ago 1898 is, here are a list of historical events that year…
- The U.S. only consists of 45 States.
- William McKinley is President of the United States.
- New York City annexes land from surrounding counties and gets incorporated as a city with five boroughs.
- Battles in the Spanish-American War begin in April and conclude in August.
- The Treaty of Paris is Signed in December which formally ends the Spanish-American War.
- John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil owns 84% of United States Oil and most U.S. pipelines.
- U.S. Senator for Kentucky, Happy Chandler, is born in July.
- Rhapsody in Blue and An American In Paris composer, George Gershwin is born in September.
The following morning, the NWS in Kansas City also recorded a low temperature record, and they continue to break low records as the cold air remains in place this week.
Kansas City has dropped to 31 this morning braking the record low of 32 which was set in 1943 and 1891! #KCRecordBreakingOctober
— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) October 15, 2018
