Winter Storm in Iowa, February 23, 2001

Name: Winter Storm in Iowa, February 23, 2001
Start: 2001-02-23T13:00
End: 2001-02-23T22:00
Location: Iowa

February 23, 2001 · NWS OAX · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

See the narrative for eastern Nebraska for the same time period.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS OAX wrote it up.

See the narrative for eastern Nebraska for the same time period.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Omaha, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 23, 3:30 AM CST, 9 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 23, 3:30 AM CST, 9 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
330 AM CST FRI FEB 23 2001

...FORECAST CHALLENGES...DEVELOPMENT OF PRECIP TAF/TYPE/LOCATION OF
ADVISORY...POT FOR HVY SNO/STG WNDS SAT NIGHT AND SUN.

...SYNOPSIS...PER THE 06Z SFC ANALYSIS...A BROAD AREA OF SFC HI PRES
STRETCHED FM THE ERN DAKOTAS INNTO IA AND MO.  THE STATIONARY FNT
WAS ALIGNED FM NE CO INTO NRN KS AND NW MO...SEPARATING THE LOW CLDS
AND FOG TO THE S WITH THE DRIER COOL AIR ALONG THE RIDGE AXIS.
TEMPS ACRS THE FA RANGED FM AROUND 10 ABOVE YKN/SUX TO 20 AT OMA TO
THE UPR 20S AT FNB. SOME MID CLDS WERE FORMING IN A BAND NEAR
OFK-DNS ERLY THIS MORNING. THIS AREA SEEING FAVORABLE ISENTROPIC
LIFT AND IN AXIS OF HIGHER 850MB RH.

THE BIG PICTURE PER THE 07Z IR/RUC HAD TWO CNTRS OF LO PRES ANALYZED
OVR NRN CA AND NW NV WITH UPR LVL RIDGING ACRS THE WRNS PLNS.  130M
HT FALLS WERE NOTED AT RNO.  TWO JET SEGMENT OF INTEREST INCLUDED A
120KT JET FM OVR KY WITH UPR LVL DIV TO THE SW FM IN WRN KS AND THE
120KT JET ALONG THE CA COAST W OF THE UPR TROF IS STILL DIGGING.

...FORECAST...THE ETA/AVN/NGM ARE SIMILAR THRU 36HRS...THEN DIVERGE.
THE UPR LO BEGINS TO OPEN UP OVR THE SIERRAS TAF AND MOVES INTO THE
ROCKIES TON.  DURING THE DAY SAT...THE AVN REMAINS THE STGEST AND
SLOWEST  WITH A CLOSED LOW OVR CNTRL KS...THE ETA WEAKENS THE LO AND
OPENS THE WAVE...LIFTING IT FARTHER N...WHILE THE NGM IS IN
BETWEEN.  LARGE DIFFERENCES CONT INTO 60HRS(SUN AM) AS THE AVN RMNS
STRONG AND CLOSED OVR SE MN AND THE ETA IS A MUCH WEAKER OPEN TROF
OVR THE GRTLKS.  AT THIS TIME WITH FOLLOW A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE
ETA/AVN.

TODAY...STRONG MOISTURE TRANSPORT/ISENTROPIC LIFT TO RESULT IN
CLD/PRECIP DVLPMNT THIS AM.  PRECIP TO BREAK OUT IN THE SRN PORTION
OF THE FA AND SPREAD NE INTO SW IA.  AS THE BETTER ISENTROPIC LIFT
SHIFTS TO THE E INTO IA THIS EVE...THE THERE IS A LULL IN THE
PRECIP...THEN INCREASE AGAIN SAT AM ESPECIALLY FOR SE NEB AND SW IA.
TOTAL QFP ON THE ETA WAS .5/NGM .75 AND 06Z MESO ETA .77 THRU
48HRS.  CONCERN LATE THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON IS THAT TEMPS
WILL BE BELOW FREEZING.  WILL ISSUE WNTR WX ADV FOR THIS AFT AND TON
FOR NE/ECNTRL AND WRN IA COUNTIES.

TONIGHT...PRECIP TO CHANGE OVER TO RAIN FM S TO N AS THE WRM AIR
MOVES N. FCST SNDINGS SHOW LOCATIONS N OF OMA TO BE BELOW FREEZING
AT MIDNIGHT.  THE FAR NW PORTION OF THE CWA MAY STAY BELOW FREEZING
FOR THE DURATION OF THE STORM.

SATURDAY...THE TROF MOVES ACRS THE PLNS WITH THE WRM AIR IN SE NEB
GRADUALLY LOSING TO THE COLD AIR IN CNTRL NEB.  STG NW WNDS WILL
OVERTAKE THE FCST AREA BY 00Z...CHANGING TO PRECIP OVER TO SNOW.
THERE IN LIES THE DISCREPANCY IN MODELS OF WHERE THE BEST
DEFORMATION AREA SNOW WILL SET UP.  HAVE ISSUED WINTER STORM WATCH
FOR SATURDAY NIGHT DUE TO SNOW AND STG WNDS AND CONDITIONS TO
CONTINUE INTO SUN.

IN EXTENDED...SNOW STILL LOOKS GOOD FOR TUES...HOWEVER...NEW MRF IS
LOOKING DRY.  WILL NOT MAKE ANY SIG CHGS TO EXTENDED AT THIS TIME.

THANKS FOR COORD FSD/LBF/DSM/GID.

.OMA...WINTER WX ADV TAF/TON ALL COUNTIES EXCEPT JEFFERSON...
       GAGE...JOHNSON...NEMAHA...PAWNEE...AND RICHARDSON
       WINTER STORM WATCH SAT NIGHT SAME AREA AS WINTER WX ADVISORY

ZAPOTOCNY

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Mills

When: February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Mills forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.034, -95.621 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Fremont

When: February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Fremont forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.746, -95.605 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Harrison

When: February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Harrison forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.683, -95.817 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Monona

When: February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Monona forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.052, -95.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Montgomery

When: February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.030, -95.156 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Page

When: February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Page forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.739, -95.150 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Pottawattamie

When: February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Pottawattamie forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.337, -95.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Shelby

When: February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Shelby forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.685, -95.310 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, February 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5232072, 5232073, 5232074, 5232075, 5232076, 5232077, 5232078, 5232079.