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Snow total reaches 14.2 inches in Wichita; only 1962 storm worse. Global warming blamed.

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Leroy N. Soetoro

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Feb 23, 2013, 10:21:29 PM2/23/13
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http://www.kansascity.com/2013/02/21/4078276/snow-totals-top-10-inches-in-
wichita.html

A snowstorm elbowed its way into the record books as it laid siege to
Wichita and much of the rest of Kansas on Thursday, bringing traffic to a
virtual standstill.

Overnight snowfall was so heavy that whiteout conditions were being
reported Thursday in and near Wichita as the morning commute began � and
again later in the day in south-central, western and northern Kansas.

More than 100 traffic accidents had been reported countywide by mid-
evening. Even a plane got stuck in the snow at Wichita Mid-Continent
Airport.

�The majority of activity across the state of Kansas has come to a stop,�
the Kansas Adjutant General�s Office reported in a statement Thursday.

A rare thundersnow storm dumped several inches of snow on Wichita just
before dawn Thursday; as the storm pulled out of the area by evening, the
total was 14.2 inches. Only the storm of Jan. 17-18, 1962, delivered more
snow: 15 inches.

�It was definitely a major winter storm,� said Jim Caruso, meteorologist
for the National Weather Service Wichita. �The snowfall rates were
augmented by that thundersnow we got.�

Classes have been called off Friday for the city�s universities and at
nearly all public and Catholic schools in Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey and
Sumner counties.

City crews expected to have all snow emergency routes and secondary routes
cleared by rush hour Friday morning, said Joe Pajor, deputy director of
public works and utilities.

Rescuing motorists

The Kansas Department of Transportation and the Kansas Highway Patrol
closed I-70 from Salina west to Hays in both directions at 11:30 a.m.
Thursday due to the large number of slide-off accidents and limited
availability of tow trucks. I-70 was later closed from Colby to Hays.

U.S. 54 was shut down between Pratt and Minneola on Thursday afternoon
because of whiteout conditions, state officials said.

National Guardsmen were driving Humvees on I-70 and U.S. 54 looking for
stranded drivers as night fell, Gov. Sam Brownback said Thursday
afternoon.

�If you don�t have to travel, don�t do it,� Brownback stressed during a
news conference with other state officials. �We�re not out of this yet.�

The governor said it was important to identify any stranded travelers and
get them to shelter before it got dark and temperatures declined, making
it more dangerous and more difficult to assist people. Hotel rooms in the
Russell and Hays areas quickly filled up, and state officials were
monitoring the situation to ensure there was adequate shelter for
travelers.

Kiowa County opened a shelter housing 30 people. Franklin and Pratt
counties also had shelters ready on stand-by.

Two teams of two National Guard members hit I-70 between Colby and Salina
and one team targeted U.S. 54 from Mineola to Pratt, Maj. Gen. Lee
Tafanelli said. More guardsmen stood ready to help if needed, he said.
Guardsmen in Humvees will also patrol U.S. 400 from Dodge City to Bucklin,
helping motorists.

No fatality accidents had been reported, officials said, but there were
several vehicles that slid off the roads, leaving motorists stranded.

Motorists needing help from the Kansas Highway Patrol can dial *47 on
their cellphones; drivers on the Kansas Turnpike can dial *KTA.

It was unclear when I-70 and U.S. 54 would reopen, said Kansas Department
of Transportation Secretary Mike King. He urged people to check the KDOT
website or dial 511 for road condition updates.

About 1,000 state workers were working to clear roads in two shifts around
the clock, King said. But windy conditions hampered plowing, particularly
on ramps leading on and off some major highways, he said.

Getting stuck

The snow was so bad early Thursday that police cars and other emergency
vehicles were getting stuck around Wichita. The conditions made it
challenging for police to respond to emergencies, said police Lt. Doug
Nolte.

�We will get there as quick as possible,� Nolte said.

Because of the road conditions, police vehicles have been involved in five
minor accidents since Wednesday, he said.

By 8 p.m. Thursday, 130 traffic accidents had been reported in Sedgwick
County, a 911 dispatch supervisor said; 20 involved injuries.

Emergency rooms at Via Christi�s three Wichita hospitals on Thursday
treated two patients each for slips or falls and snow-shoveling-related
injuries, three hurt in sledding accidents and one who had heart trouble
while shoveling the snow. None admitted were hurt in traffic accidents,
Via Christi spokeswoman Maria Loving added.

Airport delays

The weather caused a second day of problems at Wichita Mid-Continent
Airport.

Valerie Wise of the Wichita Airport Authority said crews have been
�working around the clock� since snow started falling Wednesday to keep at
least one runway clear.

Almost all flights into and out of Mid-Continent were canceled Thursday,
although airport officials were leaving it to the discretion of individual
airlines whether arrivals or departures would occur. Thirteen flights
departed from Mid-Continent by 6 p.m. Thursday, Wise said; about 33
usually depart on a weekday.

Late Thursday afternoon, a United CRJ jet arriving from Denver got wedged
in the snow after the pilot turned onto an uncleared taxiway, Wise said.

The flight, carrying 66 passengers, was scheduled to arrive at 4:15 p.m.
It was freed by 6 p.m.

�A lot of people were out there with shovels digging it out," Wise said.

The ramp areas, taxiways and parking lots still need to be cleared of snow
Thursday evening, she added.

�Our priority is keeping the runway open,� she said of the airport. �But
there is a lot of snow out there and a lot of work that needs to be done.�

City efforts

Wichita is using private contractors who will add 21 operators and 21
full-size pieces of equipment to the snow removal effort, Pajor said.
Crews don�t plow residential streets because it would block driveways and
bury cars parked on those streets. Officials are encouraging people to
stay off streets if possible.

There have been a couple of instances where plow trucks got stuck, Pajor
said.

Snow crews were scheduled to work 12-hour shifts around the clock, at
least through Friday morning rush hour, Pajor said. The city has 50
employees per shift and 50 pieces of equipment assigned to the effort, the
city said in a news release.

City buses operated on regular routes, but the service was running behind
because of the weather issues, and buses made some detours around trouble
spots, said Steve Spade, the city�s transit director. Riders can get
updates about weather-related detours by going to www.wichitatransit.org.

The city�s paratransit service is making only medically necessary trips.

Hunkering down

Most Kansans have hunkered down in their homes, making it easier for snow
plows and emergency crews to manage the situation, Brownback said Thursday
morning.

�It appears we�ve had a significant reduction in travel, which is great,�
Brownback said in a conference call with reporters. �It�s exactly what we
needed.�

Roughly 200 homes and businesses scattered across the state lost power,
but no widespread power outages were expected, he said.

The biggest problem has been cars sliding off the roads, Brownback said.

�I continue to plead with people: If you don�t have to be out, please
don�t get out,� he said.

In a later news release from the adjutant general, Brownback urged those
who must travel to pack water, food, blankets, a charged cell phone and
other emergency supplies in their vehicles.

The state is expected to spend $2?million to $3?million on de-icing
chemicals and overtime for plow truck drivers, said King, the
transportation secretary. Average storms cost about $1?million, he said.

Thundersnow

Hours of thundersnow beginning shortly after 3 a.m. helped fresh
accumulation build rapidly in Wichita, National Weather Service
meteorologist Vanessa Pearce said.

�I drove through it and you couldn�t see much � it was coming down so
heavy,� she said.

City officials reported that snow fell at the rate of 2 inches an hour
between 3 and 6 a.m.

Wichita logged a total of 14.2 inches. Hutchinson had 13.5 inches, western
Augusta saw 10 and Great Bend had 11.

The most snow � 18 inches � reported by 8 p.m. Thursday was in Nashville,
located in western Kingman County.

Contributing: Amy Renee Leiker, Rick Plumlee and Suzanne Perez Tobias of
The Eagle

--
Barack Obama, reelected by the dumbest and most fearful people in the
history of the United States of America.

Eric Holder, racist black murdering United States Attorney General, still
has his job.

Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact to
improper vetting of Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama, a confirmed
felon using SSAN 042-68-4425, belonging to a dead man.

Obama ignored the brutal killing of an American diplomat in Benghazi, then
relieved American military officers who attempted to prevent said murder
in order to cover up his own ineptness.

Obama continues his goal of disarming America after known mentally
disturbed liberal Adam Peter Lanza killed 20 school children and 6 adults
in Sandy Hook Connecticut on December 14, 2012. Every single liberal
inspired and authored gun control law in existence failed to prevent this
tragedy.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ne...@netfront.net ---

Romney: A Polygamist whose career has been destroying America's middle class

unread,
Feb 24, 2013, 10:02:40 AM2/24/13
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On 2/23/2013 9:21 PM, Leroy N. Soetoro wrote:
>




--
---

Romkey rednecks: http://www.twitpic.com/8zi369/full


Conservatives remind me of Yosemite Sam, Wile E. Coyote, and Elmer
Fudd. They bring the guns, the stupidity, and of course, the failure.

MittR...@rnc.com

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Feb 24, 2013, 1:04:50 PM2/24/13
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It's freezing here and we're getting buried under snow, where is this
global warming they keep promising us?

emoneyjoe

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Feb 24, 2013, 4:01:22 PM2/24/13
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On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:04:50 -0500, MittR...@RNC.com wrote:

>It's freezing here and we're getting buried under snow, where is this
>global warming they keep promising us?

Global Warming is what causes snow,
more snow, lots of snow, blizzards, and
no snow, and snow jobs, in fact, global
warming is a snow job.




Sancho Panza

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Feb 24, 2013, 4:03:45 PM2/24/13
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Awww, we always knew that they were full of hot air.


pyotr filipivich

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Feb 24, 2013, 8:22:20 PM2/24/13
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MittR...@RNC.com on Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:04:50 -0500 typed in
misc.survivalism the following:
>It's freezing here and we're getting buried under snow, where is this
>global warming they keep promising us?

Just consider how cold it would be if there was no global warming.
--
pyotr filipivich.
Just about the time you finally see light at the end of the tunnel,
you find out it's a Government Project to build more tunnel.

emoneyjoe

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Feb 24, 2013, 10:08:02 PM2/24/13
to
On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 17:22:20 -0800, pyotr filipivich
<ph...@mindspring.com> wrote:

>MittR...@RNC.com on Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:04:50 -0500 typed in
>misc.survivalism the following:
>>It's freezing here and we're getting buried under snow, where is this
>>global warming they keep promising us?
>
>Just consider how cold it would be if there was no global warming.

Just consider how hot it would be if there was no global warming.

:-)

How deep is the snow now?




Winston_Smith

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Feb 24, 2013, 10:15:10 PM2/24/13
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On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 03:21:29 +0000 (UTC), "Leroy N. Soetoro" wrote:

>Snow total reaches 14.2 inches in Wichita; only 1962 storm worse. Global warming blamed.

Odd. The story never mentions global warming.

Diane Feinstein, California Communist

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Feb 24, 2013, 5:32:28 PM2/24/13
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In article <512a2b91$0$10359$bbae...@news.suddenlink.net>
some obama nigger lover <r...@skls.com> wrote:
>
> On 2/23/2013 9:21 PM, Leroy N. Soetoro wrote:
> In article <XnsA170C4F91E...@202.177.16.121>
> Obama sucks cock: http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/26145411.jpg
>
>
> Conservatives remind me

that liberals have never put a man on the moon, won a world war,
or colonized a country.




































































































































































































































Desertphile

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Feb 25, 2013, 1:14:14 PM2/25/13
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So I noticed. How very odd.


--
Nemo me impune lacessit.
"[Denialists] will immediately reject the facts when they glance at them." -- Desertphile
"We will always reject your facts." -- Tunderbar

Desertphile

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Feb 25, 2013, 1:14:17 PM2/25/13
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On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 03:21:29 +0000 (UTC), "Leroy N. Soetoro"
Okay, I give up: who blamed this on global warming?

Dan

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Mar 13, 2013, 8:43:56 PM3/13/13
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There you go again, confusing weather with climate. Hwo dumb can you get?

Dan
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