Tuesday is Winter Weather Awareness Day

Northeast Kansas residents received their first taste of winter alongside their pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, as rain turned into ice that evening and continued on and off throughout the weekend. 

To help Kansans prepare for more winter weather in the proceeding months, Tuesday of this week has been designed at Winter Weather Awareness Day. 

Each year, the National Weather Service selects a day to remind Kansans of the risks associated with winter weather. 

While many state residents think that tornadoes pose the greatest safety risk in Kansas, the biggest risk actually is driving in snow and ice, according to the NWS. 

Although numbers are largely underreported, here in Kansas at least 15 to 20 people lose their lives every year in automobile accidents where ice and snow played a role and that number may be much higher, NWS reports.  By comparison, tornadoes kill around two people each year in Kansas and injure far fewer.  

According to the weather service, the most important rule when driving in bad conditions of any kind is to slow down and relax.

Hitting your gas pedal, slamming your breaks or cranking your wheel too quickly is a surefire way to lose traction on an icy or wet road, the organization reports.

If your vehicle starts sliding, the NWS recommends turning slightly into the skid and pumping your breaks. Once you’re already sliding, your tires have lost traction with the road. 

It seems counterintuitive, but in order to avoid a spinout you need to turn slightly into the skid, slowly let off the gas and start pumping the breaks. 

Yanking the wheel in the other direction and locking the brakes will stop your tires from turning, but you’ll lose all hope of regaining traction with the road surface.

According to NWS, Topeka averages 17.8 inches of snow per winter season. Last winter, Topeka was below average and only received 10.3 inches of snow. 

During the 2011-2012 snow season, Topeka experienced its driest winter with only 3.1 inches of snow. 

December tends to be snowiest month for the capital city, which averages 5.2 inches, according to the NWS. 

The greatest yearly snowfall in Kansas was in 1984, when the city of McDonald received 103.6 inches of snow. The greatest accumulation of snowfall that occurred in 24 consecutive hours was 30 inches in Pratt on March 28, 2009.

During the 1992-1993 winter, Hays had 152 days of snow on the ground, which is a state record. 

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Kansas was negative 40 degrees at Lebanon on Feb. 13, 1905.

To be prepared for the cold and snow, the NWS recommends preparing an emergency supply kit for your car that includes the following items:

* Blanket

* Boots, mittens and warm clothes

* Flashlight

* Water, snacks

* Cell phone charger

* First aid kit

* Jumper cables

* Tire chains or snow tires

* Flares

* A full tank of gas

* Bag of sand or cat litter

* A shovel, ice scraper and snow brush

* Tow rope

The NWS and other organizations have developed apps that can be downloaded onto mobile phones to help residents get the latest local weather forecast. 

In addition, for up to date weather information, visit weather.gov/Topeka. For latest road conditions, call 511 in Kansas.