Nebraska, 2001

Winter Storm in Nebraska, February 23, 2001

February 23, 2001 · NWS OAX · 25 events in 25 counties and zones

Freezing rain moved into eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa beginning shortly after noon Friday 2/23/01. The freezing rain ended or change over to rain across the southern counties around 600 pm but persisted several hours longer north of Omaha.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 25 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
25

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.

Freezing rain moved into eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa beginning shortly after noon Friday 2/23/01. The freezing rain ended or change over to rain across the southern counties around 600 pm but persisted several hours longer north of Omaha. Although no widespread power or tree damage was reported...most freezing rain amounts were around a tenth of an inch which cause considerable glazing of roads and sidewalks.

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

25 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Douglas

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Douglas forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.295, -96.154 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Burt

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Burt forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.852, -96.329 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Butler

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Butler forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.226, -97.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cass

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Cass forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.910, -96.141 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Colfax

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Colfax forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.574, -97.086 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cuming

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Cuming forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.916, -96.787 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dodge

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Dodge forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.578, -96.654 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Gage

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Gage forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.262, -96.689 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jefferson

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.176, -97.143 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Johnson

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Johnson forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.393, -96.265 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lancaster

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Lancaster forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.784, -96.688 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Madison

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Madison forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.917, -97.601 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Nemaha

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Nemaha forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.388, -95.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Otoe

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Otoe forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.649, -96.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Pawnee

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Pawnee forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.132, -96.237 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Platte

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Platte forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.571, -97.521 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Richardson

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Richardson forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.125, -95.717 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Saline

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Saline forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.524, -97.141 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sarpy

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Sarpy forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.113, -96.112 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Saunders

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Saunders forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.226, -96.637 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Seward

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Seward forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
40.872, -97.139 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Stanton

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Stanton forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.917, -97.194 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Thurston

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Thurston forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.158, -96.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Washington

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Washington forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.531, -96.222 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wayne

When
February 23, 1:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where
Wayne forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
42.209, -97.119 (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 Nebraska in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, 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: 5231947, 5231948, 5231949, 5231950, 5231951, 5231952, 5231953, 5231954, 5231955, 5231956, 5231957, 5231958, 5231959, 5231960, 5231961, 5231962, 5231963, 5231964, 5231965, 5231966, 5232067, 5232068, 5232069, 5232070, 5232071.