Winter Storm in Nebraska, October 25 to 26, 1997

An autumn snowstorm pummeled central and south central Nebraska with record early season snows. Wind driven snowfall amounts totaled as much as two feet by storms' end.The storms' origin began in the southwest United States with a strong upper level low pressure riding along the southern jet stream. As the storm pulled northeast toward Nebraska, colder air slowly filtered into central Nebraska beginning late Friday night. Snow fell north and west of an Aurora to Franklin line during the day Saturday, while rain continued further southeast. By evening, all of the area was receiving snow and increasing north winds as the low pressure intensified in northern Oklahoma. Several highways were closed, including Interstate 80, as near blizzard conditiions developed. Once the snow subsided, the record early season snow totals were tallied. Guide Rock measured twenty-four inches of snow, Clay Center twenty -three inches and Hastings seventeen inches. A fifty-mile wide swath of snow in excess of fifteen inches fell from near Alma to York. Amounts further north averaged from four to eight inches. The heary, wet snow was responsible for many power outages in the area as tree limbs broke and fell on power lines. At one point, the town of Hardy had no power, and could not be accessed by vehicle due to the snow. Numerous schools and businesses remained closed several days following the storm. Many highways, including Interstate 80, were closed at the height of the storm. On highway 136 east of Alma, road crews worked for ten hours carvning through a ten foot drift which covered the road. Record cold accompanied the snow as temperatures dropped to the single digits the morning of the 26th.