By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

A number of factors -- not the least of which was the weather -- combined to make this year's Christmas holiday uncommonly deadly.

Estimates vary, but at least six people died as a mix of wintry weather swept through Kansas and the nation's midsection.

At least four people died in weather-related accidents in northwest Kansas, the latest on Sunday in Ness County. There, 18-year-old Joshua Dean Stieben, Bazine, died after losing control of his vehicle and crashing into trees north of Ness City.

It's not known when the accident occurred, but authorities weren't notified until 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

Two other people, both from Fort Smith, Ark., died Dec. 22 in a two-vehicle accident near Colby. Lora Elizabeth Marietta, 22, Oberlin, died a day earlier on Kansas Highway 23 about 15 miles south of Hoxie.

Weather conditions were at the heart of the rash of deadly accidents, but it was compounded by the crush of holiday traffic -- motorists who were rushing down Kansas highways to visit family.

In the case of the Colby accident, Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Tod Hileman said the weather was the primary cause.

"We had all that freezing drizzle and on top of it was snow," he said. "And all that wind."

Hileman said he learned during his six years as a deputy with the Thomas County Sheriff's office that winter weather in the Colby area can be especially deadly.

There, he said, Interstate 70 straightens out and follows a true east-west pattern. And, he said, there's virtually no protection from the howling winds, the likes of which where seen last week at the height of the storm.

Ground blizzards are all too common, and the highway can turn into a dangerous place to be as black ice forms on the pavement.

Bottom line, Hileman said, too often motorists don't know how to drive in a western Kansas snowstorm.

That includes Colorado residents, who often drive in snow.

There, he said, the snow is more frequent, but gentler.

"People are not aware of how our winters work out here," he said.

Snow, when it falls, is often accompanied by strong winds, causing it to blow sideways, making visibility difficult.

Lighted signs installed by the Kansas Department of Transportation try to alert motorists, but "some people don't heed that warning," he said.

The crush of people taking to highways for the Christmas holiday -- many considering themselves to be in a hurry and remaining on the road for long periods of time -- only adds to the danger.

On Dec. 22, the day of the double-fatal, KHP in northwest Kansas worked seven accidents, not including the slideoffs that were reported. Four were non-injury accidents.

The next day, 14 accidents were reported.

Those are days, Hileman said, when troopers get called "from one milepost to the next" for accidents.

"That's also why our bosses up the number of troopers on the road," he added.

While there is a recipe for resolving many of the problems, it takes the help of motorists.

"People really need to slow down," Hileman said of driving when weather turns sour.