‘Dangerous wind chills’ for days: An arctic blast is heading for Wichita and Kansas

The last time the Wichita area saw weather as cold as what’s forecast in the coming days was the arctic blast in February 2021, which led to mass power outages and Evergy doing rolling blackouts to try to keep up with the demand for people heating their homes.

And, before that, the last time it had reached the forecast highs expected Sunday and Monday was in 1989 and 1990.

An arctic air mass is expected to descend on Kansas in the coming days, bringing with it snow and “wind chills in the dangerous category,” according to National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Kleinsasser.

Late Thursday night and into Friday morning in Wichita could have wind chills around minus 7 degrees. The rest of the week and weekend will bring even colder temperatures, with the coldest coming Sunday and Monday — those mornings have forecast wind chills between 20 to 25 degrees below zero. Other parts of Kansas, including Salina and Topeka, could have even colder wind chills, reaching in the minus mid-30s on Monday.

“I think this is probably going to rival that big cold snap we had in mid-February 2021,” the Wichita meteorologist said.

The 2021 storm was also an arctic freeze that brought sub-zero temperatures.

Sunday and Monday have forecast lows in the negatives and could also set records for the coldest high temperatures. Daytime highs Sunday and Monday are expected to be in the single digits.

The coldest high for Jan. 14 and Jan. 15, which is Sunday and Monday, was 7 and 10 degrees set in 1952 and 1969. Records in Wichita date back to 1888.

The high of Sunday is currently forecast to reach 7 degrees, which ties for the 50th coolest high measured in Wichita, according to the NOAA Regional Climate Centers.

“This is going to be a really cold air mass,” Kleinsasser said. “We don’t see something this cold every winter.”

He added: “We usually see sub-zero wind chills every winter but these are wind chills in the dangerous category. If you’re stuck outside for an extended period of time, you could get frost bite.”

Making the cold even worse will be snow. Thursday night could see a dusting to a half inch, he said, and Sunday and Sunday night could get between 1-3 inches.

“That’s going to be with those breezy and gusty north winds and those really dangerous wind chills,” he said. “Hazardous travel is definitely a possibility from the snow, blowing snow, especially Sunday night.”

Tuesday is expected to start with wind chills in the negative but could reach a high of around 20 degrees. Wednesday could reach a high near freezing.

“But we will still be well below normal” for this time of year, he said.

Typically, average highs this time of year is in the mid 40s.