The Garden City Telegram
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Freezing temps, moisture hit the region
Published 10/12/2009 in Local News
By MONICA SPRINGER
mspringer@gctelegram.com
The freezing drizzle over the weekend caused headaches for both drivers and area producers in the middle of fall harvest, but no more freezing drizzle is expected this week, the National Weather Service said this morning.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Coats, gloves and blankets were the norm Saturday night for Garden City Community College football fans to bundle up in at Memorial Stadium as dropping temperatures, a wind chill in the teens and a rain/snow mixture covered southwest Kansas.
The freezing drizzle caused some minor accidents in Hamilton County as cars slid off roads and into ditches, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office reported.
Ice also was a factor in an accident in Finney County east of the U.S. Highway 50 and U.S. Highway 83 junction on Saturday night, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.
A 1999 Chevy truck hit the east guardrail at mile marker 70, about four miles east of the U.S. 50/83 junction. The KHP reported the vehicle rolled two times and into the east ditch and landed on its wheels. The five occupants of the vehicle were treated and released at St. Catherine Hospital.
David Henrichs-Weibe, 29, Ana Henrichs, 25, Christina Henrichs, 1, Benny Henrichs, 6, and Corny Henrichs, 3, all of Chihuahua, Mexico, were treated and released at St. Catherine Hospital.
There were also weather-related accidents reported in Wichita County. Sheriff Randy Keeton said two accidents happened Saturday, both because of icy road conditions.
The first accident happened at 5:29 a.m. on Kansas Highway 25, near mile marker 23.
Keeton said Katherine Timmerman, 26, of Dighton was northbound when her vehicle went off the right side of the road and rolled 1.5 times. She was extricated and transported to the Wichita County Health Center. Her condition was not available on Monday morning.
The second accident happened at 8:15 a.m. Saturday on Kansas Highway 96 near mile marker 31. Annette Bailey, of Wichita County, was driving a Ford pickup and pulling a stock trailer when the trailer jackknifed, damaging the truck, Keeton said. The woman was not injured.
Other area law enforcement agencies reported no weather-related incidents.
On Saturday, the low temperature in Garden City was 25 degrees, and the high was 27, said Frederick Kruse, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Dodge City. On Sunday, the low was 25 degrees and the high was 33, Kruse said.
The freezing drizzle that caused residents to scrape ice off of car windshields also caused some problems for area producers.
Lane County producer Ron Suppes said he's more worried about what the weather did to the sorghum than the corn. His sorghum plants still are standing but are weighed down with ice, he said.
Suppes said when the plants are lying down, producers have to cut the sorghum closer to the ground. That slows harvest because more material moves through the combine, which can cause a lower yield, Suppes said.
The freeze cut the life cycle of the plants, and once the moisture dries in the fields, Suppes said, he expects the corn and sorghum to be ripe and ready to harvest. He also said activity in the fields will pick up later this week as fields dry.
"We've been blessed with very good fall crops," Suppes said, adding that as fields dry he expects lines at grain elevators.
Suppes has about 2,800 acres of milo and 1,000 acres of corn. He has harvested about 40 percent of his corn. The Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service said corn condition is rated as 2 percent very poor, 6 percent poor, 21 percent fair, 49 percent good, and 22 percent excellent.
Ninety-three percent of the sorghum crop is coloring, and 39 percent has reached maturity. Farmers have harvested 4 percent of the sorghum crop, which is rated as 1 percent very poor, 5 percent poor, 22 percent fair, 56 percent good, and 16 percent excellent.
The rest of the week will bring slightly warmer temperatures, Kruse said, and no more freezing drizzle is expected.
Drizzle is expected after 1 a.m. on Tuesday. The low for tonight and Tuesday morning will be about 34 degrees.
There's a 20 percent chance of drizzle Tuesday, with a slight chance of rain after 1 p.m. The highs will be in the low 40s.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will bring partly sunny skies, with temperatures in the upper 50s and lower 60s.
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