Here's how Topekans coped with some of the coldest wind chills of their lives

Tim Hrenchir, Topeka Capital-Journal
·6 min read
Shawn Holthaus, an employee with A-1 Plumbing, helps to scrape snow and ice away late Thursday morning just outside a building at 110 N.E. Lyman Road.
Shawn Holthaus, an employee with A-1 Plumbing, helps to scrape snow and ice away late Thursday morning just outside a building at 110 N.E. Lyman Road.

Sherry Hernandez found herself with no home heating system on Thursday, a bitterly cold day that brought Topeka wind chills of 29 degrees below zero amid what the National Weather Service called a "once-in-a-generation storm."

Still, she said she was doing OK.

"Our furnace is out so we are coping with space heaters and blankets," Hernandez wrote on the Facebook page of The Topeka Experience group. "It's actually not too bad."

"Ours is too," responded Chloe Jewell, a fellow member of that Facebook group. "Space heaters and our oven are keeping us warm."

Baking cookies and cozying up under blankets

A temperature reading on the Six Auto Service building at 1000 N.W. Topeka Blvd. shows a reading Thursday morning of minus 10 degrees.
A temperature reading on the Six Auto Service building at 1000 N.W. Topeka Blvd. shows a reading Thursday morning of minus 10 degrees.

Hernandez and Jewell were among more than 50 people on The Topeka Experience page who answered a question The Capital-Journal posed asking what people were doing to cope with Thursday's historically frigid conditions.

Group members said they were taking steps that included staying home, sealing doors and windows, and cozying up under blankets or next to a roaring fire.

Some were baking cookies, watching movies or preparing for Christmas.

More:Curbside recycling will soon cost extra in Shawnee County, but there will be a way to opt out

Kodie Randel Timberlake, who works from home, said she was taking part in all of her on-camera meetings while drinking a big mug of hot chai tea and wearing a "snuggie," or blanket with sleeves.

Timberlake was also "making sure all the pets in the house are tucked into their favorite napping spots," she said.

Ensuring pets and farm animals were properly cared for was a common theme Thursday.

Andrea Keeler-Nolte said her family was feeding its farm animals extra while making sure they had plenty of bedding, hay and water.

More:Topeka planning body supports zoning changes while opponents decry 'spot zoning'

Topeka organizations team up to check on unhoused residents

Those working outdoors amid Thursday's frigid conditions included Shawn Holthaus, an employee with A-1 Plumbing, who scraped away snow and ice that morning just outside a building at 110 N.E. Lyman Road.

Holthaus said of the weather, "It's pretty bad."

The Topeka Fire Department announced on Facebook that it was teaming up with Valeo Behavorial Health Care, the Topeka Rescue Mission and the Topeka Police Department to send people out to check on unhoused residents.

TRM's shelters on Wednesday night housed more than 160 men, women and children, said Kim Turley, its director of events and volunteer services.

In addition, TRM for the first time Thursday opened a 24/7 warming center for the unhoused, she said.

More than 40 people had accessed the warming center, where they were being provided warm blankets, a mat, three meals a day, snacks, beverages and "mostly important, connection to people who care for them," Turley said.

"Executive Director La Manda Broyles is extremely humbled and grateful for both God’s provision and community support as we navigate deadly weather elements our neighbors are facing thanks to city manager Steve Wade, city of Topeka employees, Police Chief Bryan Wheeles and staff, Fire Chief Randy Phillips and staff, United Way of Greater Topeka and many others," Turley said.

Deputies rescue hunter from iced-in boat on Milford Lake

Geary County sheriff's deputies Thursday morning rescued a hunter who had been stranded in a boat on Milford Lake after he tried to retrieve his geese decoys amid the storm, Sheriff Daniel E. Jackson Jr. said in a news release.

Justin Howe, of Fort Riley, had been on the lake in his boat for about 40 minutes when its motor died and he called called dispatchers, Jackson said.

"The boat drifted further away from where Mr. Howe had been hunting and became stuck against the ice before becoming frozen in place," he said.

The Geary County Sheriff's Office marine unit broke ice to get a boat into the water, dealt with dense fog, then encountered mechanical issues of its own that caused it to go into "limp mode," in which less important parts of the boat are shut off, Jackson said.

"The marine unit made their way through the ice around Mr. Howe’s jon boat and first attempted to tow Mr. Howe in his jon boat back to shore but were unable to break it free of the ice with their own boat in limp mode," he said. "The marine unit had to break the ice around the jon boat in order to get close enough for Mr. Howe to board the Geary County Sheriff’s Office boat."

Howe then boarded that board and returned to shore with deputies, arriving at 11:55 a.m. Thursday, Jackson said.

Howe and the deputies were subsequently screened by emergency medical technicians from the Junction City Fire Department, then released, he said.

Wind chill index plunged to minus 29

Blowing snow Thursday afternoon obscures the view of Lake Shawnee.
Blowing snow Thursday afternoon obscures the view of Lake Shawnee.

Officials for several days had been warning of the approaching storm, which brought light snow to northeast Kansas late Wednesday and early Thursday.

It caused the wind chill index at Topeka's National Weather Service office to plunge 56 degrees in 14 hours, from 27 at 11 p.m. Wednesday to minus 29 at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Wednesday was the first day of winter.

Though the weather service doesn't keep wind chill index records, it said this week's storm was expected to bring Topeka's coldest wind chills since a low of minus 41 was recorded here in December 1989.

More:Their future unclear, downtown Topeka's aging Nick Chiles buildings are back on the market

That minus 41 reading wouldn't be so low today, as the formula the weather service uses now to determine wind chill indices doesn't result in wind chills as low as those calculated under the formula that was in effect in 1989.

The weather service in November 2001 implemented an improved chart that uses advances in science, technology and computer modeling to provide a more accurate, understandable and useful formula for calculating wind chills.

While the prior formula found that a temperature of 5 degrees combined with 15 mph winds brought a wind chill index of minus 25, that figure is only minus 13 under the current formula.

Friday also marked the 33rd anniversary of the day Topeka saw its lowest temperature on record, when the mercury here dropped to minus 26 degrees on Dec. 23, 1989. The Capital City saw a low temperature of minus 22 on the previous day, Dec. 22, 1989.

More:Days are numbered for Topeka's time-and-temperature' telephone line

What's the Kansas weather forecast for Christmas Day?

Thursday's snow was expected to stick around through the weekend, granting their wish to Topekans who had been dreaming of a White Christmas.

The weather service predicted temperatures would rise to 17 degrees under sunny skies on Saturday and 26 under partly cloudy skies on Christmas Day.

The weather service predicted a low 4 degrees under partly cloudy skies Saturday night and a low of 17 under mostly cloudy skies Sunday night, with a 20% chance of snow.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka, Kansas copes as wind chill index plunges to 29 below zero