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Strong winds across Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas kicked up dirt that reduced visibility and caused multi-car pileups in two states. In Grant County, winds March 14 gusted to 73 mph and kicked up a wall of dirt reminiscent of the 1930s dust bowl and reduced visibility to less than a quatermile on area highways.
The highest wind gust reported to the National Weather Service office in Dodge City was 83 mph in Haskell County, with 80 mph reported in Hamilton County, and 72 mph recorded in both Johnson and Lakin.
I-70 was closed for a time in Sherman County between Goodland and Colby after a 71-car pileup on the interstate claimed eight lives on Friday afternoon. The Thomas County Commission declared a State of Local Emergency in response to the crash. The American Red Cross has established a shelter for those in need at Colby Community College. K-DOT also closed K-27 from Goodland to Tribune and Highway 40 between Sharon Springs and Oakley.
In the Texas Panhandle, winds gusting to 101 mph in Pampa created blowing dust that caused a multi-car pileup on I-27 between Happy and Canyon. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, about 40 vehicles were involved and four people were killed.
Wildfires in Oklahoma left four people dead and over 140 injured, the state's medical examiner said Sunday. More than 400 homes and structures were destroyed and at least 170,000 acres burned in Oklahoma after several wildfires broke out, prompting evacuations amid extreme fire weather conditions through the weekend.
One person in Oklahoma was killed in a crash caused by the blowing dust and the town of Leedey was evacuated due to a wildfire.
A blaze in Roberts County, Texas, northeast of Amarillo, quickly blew up from less than a square mile to an estimated 32.8 square miles, the Texas A&M University Forest Service said on X. Crews stopped its advance by Friday evening.
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