Iowa, 2001

Winter Storm in Iowa, February 8 to 9, 2001

February 8 to 9, 2001 · NWS OAX · 7 events in 7 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; 7 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
7

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 8, 1:45 PM CST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 8, 1:45 PM CST, 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
145 PM CST THU FEB 8 2001

MODELS AND DATA CONTINUE TO INDICATE THE FORECAST IS ON TRACK.  -ZR
CHANGED TO PL IN PARTS OF SALINE COUNTY.  GOOD RISE FALL COUPLET AT
18Z IN NM WHERE THE TROUGH IS ROTATING THROUGH THE BOTTOM OF THE
UPPER CIRCULATION.  PROFILERS INDICATED COLD ADVECTION CONTINUES
UNDER OVERRUNNING.  PRECIP SHOULD GO TO SN AT OMA AND LNK AROUND
RUSH HOUR AND FINALLY REACH FNB AND ICL ABOUT 2 AM.

MAX SNOW AXIS ABOUT FBY TO OMA TO HNR ABOUT 6 INCHES OR A LITTLE
MORE.  WINDS INCREASING AND SIGNIFICANT BLSN...ESPECIALLY HEAVY SNOW
AXIS NORTH AND WEST.

CURRENT MINS AND MAXS TEMPS TONIGHT AND FRIDAY MAY BE A LITTLE WARM.

.OMA...SNOW/BLOWING SNOW ADVSRY TNGT NEZ011-012-015>018-030033
       042-043-050.
       WINTER STORM WARNING TNT INTO FRIDAY MORNING -ZR TO PL AND SN WITH
       BLSN...6 INCH ACCUM IA FROM MILLS CTY NORTH AND CRETE TO LNK
       TO OMA N TO FET
       WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH FRI AM SERN NEBR/SWRN IA FM
       BIE/FNB TO SDA/RDK ZR CHNG TO PL AND SN LATE SOME BLSN 2 -4 INCH
       ACCUM OF MESS.
POWERS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Mills

When
February 8, 2:00 PM CST to February 9, 2:00 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 8, 2:00 PM CST to February 9, 2:00 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 8, 2:00 PM CST to February 9, 2:00 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, Montgomery

When
February 8, 2:00 PM CST to February 9, 2:00 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 8, 2:00 PM CST to February 9, 2:00 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 8, 2:00 PM CST to February 9, 2:00 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 8, 2:00 PM CST to February 9, 2:00 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

More

Every storm in Iowa in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5231940, 5231941, 5231942, 5231943, 5231944, 5231945, 5231946.