I was born and raised in Florida but spent 5 years in Western Kansas.
I think it was in March of 1988 that I was driving home from Eastern, Oklahoma. It began to snow and the weather was cold. When I got a few miles West of Pratt, KS. the highway patrol stopped me and told me the road was closed.
I had to return to Pratt and spend the night in a motel. I had a 4wd pickup and was a little irritated. I felt sure I could have made it if they had let me try.
The next day around noon they opened the road. I could not believe how deep some of the drifts were. When I got to Ford, KS I noticed an 18 wheeler almost totally buried. It was covered except just a tiny bit of the trailer showing.
In our most recent storm, an Amtrak train got stuck in what the newspaper said was a 25 foot deep by 200 foot long drift.
Locally, drifts went over roof tops, pushing against windows and blocking doors. The drifts are hard enough to stand on without pushing through. If hit by a vehicle, the drifts will cause major body damage.
Kansas storms tain’t nuthin!