Nebraska, 2001

Winter Storm in Nebraska, February 26 to 27, 2001

February 26 to 27, 2001 · NWS OAX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Snow began falling over extreme southeast Nebraska Monday evening 2/26/01. At first the snow was scattered as it moved across the area in streaks, however, overnight and into Tuesday morning 2/27/01 the snow became heavy.

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

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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.

Snow began falling over extreme southeast Nebraska Monday evening 2/26/01. At first the snow was scattered as it moved across the area in streaks, however, overnight and into Tuesday morning 2/27/01 the snow became heavy. Snowfall totals included 9 inches at Rulo, 8 inches at Fairbury, Wilber, Auburn,Tecumseh, and Table Rock and 6 inches at Wymore, Beatrice and Virginia.

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 26, 3:03 PM CST, 7 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 26, 3:03 PM CST, 7 hours 57 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
3245 PM CST MON FEB 26 2001

.SYNOPSIS...CANADIAN AIRMASS IS PUSHING SOUTH NICELY THROUGH
NEBRASKA.  POST FRONTAL STRATUS HAS NOT BEEN PERSISTENT FOR A LONG
WAY BEHIND THE FRONT BUT HAS REACHED BIE.  MEANWHILE A WAVE IS
MOVING NORTHEAST UNDER THE JET THROUGH EASTERN NM AND THE WEST TX
PANHANDLE.

ETA PERSISTS IN SHOWING THE MOST INTRUSION OF THE DRY BUT COLD
CANADIAN AIR SOUTH.  THE AVN REMAINS THE MOST AGGRESSIVE WITH THE
MOVEMENT OF THE PRECIP NORTHEAST.  NEW MESOETA APPEARS TO BE A
CONTINUATION OF THE ETA.

WITH RATHER DRY AIR NEAR THE SURFACE...WILL BE SLOW TO GET PRECIP TO
THE SURFACE IN SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA TONIGHT.  ALL THE MODELS INDICATE
DEEP ENOUGH COLD AIR THAT ALL PRECIP WILL BE SNOW.  COULD BE SOME
FLURRIES IN THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES THIS EVENING BUT REAL THREAT OF
SNOW WILL LIKELY HOLD OFF UNTIL AFTER MIDNIGHT.

SNOW SHOULD SPREAD NORTH AND PROBABLY REACH AS FAR NORTH AS THE
PLATTE RIVER AND OMAHA ON TUESDAY.  SOME FLURRIES TONIGHT IN COLD
ADVECTION.   THERE IS ALSO LIKELY TO BE RATHER SHARP DECREASE IN
MEASURABLE AMOUNTS NORTH FOR THE MAXIMUM WHICH IS LIKELY TO BE WELL
INTO KANSAS.  ONE SMALL IRRITANT IS THE PERSISTENT LOCATION OF THE
JET WITH WAVES MOVING ALONG IN OVER SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA.   AVIATION
ALSO WANTS TO THROUGH A LITTLE PRECIP IN WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS THE
CLOSED CIRCULATIONS DRIFTS EAST ACROSS THE AREA AND IS CAUGHT BE THE
NORTHWEST FLOW.

TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL BE COLDER AGAIN...BUT MODERATED BY RATHER
PERSISTENT CLOUD COVER.  PROBABLY AROUND 5 IN THE NORTH TO AROUND 20
SOUTHEAST TIP OF NEBRASKA.   TOMORROW WILL PROBABLY SEE LOW
RISES...LEAST UNDER DEEP CLOUDS IN THE SOUTH.  TUESDAY NIGHT COLD
AGAIN AND WEDNESDAY PERHAPS A FEW BREAKS BUT ONLY SLIGHTLY WARMER.

.OMA...NONE
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, Gage

When
February 26, 11:00 PM CST to February 27, 4:00 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 26, 11:00 PM CST to February 27, 4:00 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 26, 11:00 PM CST to February 27, 4:00 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, Nemaha

When
February 26, 11:00 PM CST to February 27, 4:00 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, Pawnee

When
February 26, 11:00 PM CST to February 27, 4:00 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, Richardson

When
February 26, 11:00 PM CST to February 27, 4:00 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 26, 11:00 PM CST to February 27, 4:00 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)

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: 5232085, 5232086, 5232087, 5232088, 5232089, 5232090, 5232091.