Here are a couple of photos courtesy of Mike Miller, who works for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and lives in Pratt. Those glimpses of black fur in one of the photos is actually a labrador retriever weighing about 100 pounds – not exactly a small dog.
The National Weather Service received a report of 28 inches of snow a mile west of Pratt, and there were several reports in the area of at least 2 feet.
Todd Miller went out on Saturday to check the cattle on his farm and ranch north of Sylvia, near the Reno/Stafford county line. He found himself plodding through snow nearly up to his waist.
“I’m not in a drift,” Miller told his friend, Michael Pearce, who is also the Eagle’s outdoors writer. “I’d say we got at least 2 feet, maybe as much as 30 inches. The good thing is that it didn’t drift. I guess it was too wet and heavy to blow. My word, if this would have drifted like a lot of snows it’d have been a mess.”
“We have cows walking and dragging their bellies in the snow,” he added. “It’s the most snow I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.”
Todd’s father, Bud Miller, is in his 80s and was raised in the same area. He’s seen bigger drifts, “but never this much snow just sitting there flat,” Todd said. “That’s what all of the old farmers are telling me…bigger drifts, but they’ve never seen regular snow this deep.”
Official reports of 28 inches came from places not far from Miller’s ranch, and snowfall of a foot or more was widespread in western and central Kansas.
As of noon on Monday, Miller said about half of the snow had melted. And one more thing: At this time last week Miller was worried because his wheat fields really needed moisture.
That’s no longer a concern.
Plenty of sunshine and wind are on tap for the Wichita area today, forecasters say.
Highs should reach the mid-50s, with west winds gusting to nearly 35 miles an hour. That should take care of the last of the snow from last weekend’s storm, though central Kansas may need another day or two to melt the remnants of more than two feet of snow that fell in the region.
After a low near freezing tonight, Wichita should see more chances for rain arrive on Wednesday. Highs in the low 60s are expected.