Heavy Snow in Nebraska, February 8, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Nebraska, February 8, 2001
Start: 2001-02-08T11:21
End: 2001-02-08T15:39
Location: Nebraska

February 8, 2001 · NWS LBF · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

when a potent upper level low pressure system moved from the four corners region northeast through central Nebraska. A surface low associated with the upper level low tracked across Oklahoma along the southern boundary of the arctic high.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 LBF wrote it up.

Arctic surface high pressure was anchored over the central plains...when a potent upper level low pressure system moved from the four corners region northeast through central Nebraska. A surface low associated with the upper level low tracked across Oklahoma along the southern boundary of the arctic high. The upper level low pulled abundant moisture into the system from the south and east. The result was a band of heavy snow with amounts ranging from 6 to 8 inches from Garden county...up through Sheridan and Grant counties during the morning hours of 08 February 2001.

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 North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 8, 2:21 AM CST, 9 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 8, 2:21 AM CST, 9 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
221 AM CST THU FEB 8 2001

...FORECAST CHALLENGE IS ORIENTATION OF UPPER TROUGH BEYOND 24HRS
AND SNOWFALL AMOUNTS THROUGH THE PERIOD...

POTENT UPPER LEVEL LOW SEEN ON WV IMAGERY AT 06Z. THE MODELS LOCATE
THE UPPER LOW CENTER IN SRN CALIFORNIA. A GOOD FEED OF SUBTROPICAL
MOISTURE OUT AHEAD OF UPPER LOW FROM MEXICO NORTHEAST INTO THE SRN
AND CENTRAL PLAINS. FIRST PIECE OF ENERGY SQUEEZED OUT A BRIEF
PERIOD OF -SN OVER FAR NRN CWFA LATE THIS EVENING. THE NEXT PIECE
LOCATED IN NERN AZ PRODUCING SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OVER WRN CO INTO
SE WY. AT SURFACE...THE MAIN LOW INTO THE PLAINS IS NEAR THE TIP OF
THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE. WITH THE FRONT INTO SOUTHEAST KANSAS. ARCTIC
HIGH SETTLING SOUTHWARD INTO NORTHWESTERN NEBRASKA.

ETA AND NGM ARE FASTER WITH THE UPPER TROUGH SYSTEM BEYOND 24 HOURS
AND DEPICT AN ELONGATED FULL LATITUDE TROUGH. THE AVN FORMS A
CLOSED LOW AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST INTO THE PLAINS. AGREE WITH PMDHMD
IN FAVORING THE AVN AS A CLOSED LOW IN A MORE SEPARATE SOUTHERN
STREAM. THUS WILL BLEND THE ETA AND AVN THROUGH 24 HOURS AND FAVOR
THE AVN BEYOND.

TODAY...DEFORMATION ZONE LOOKS TO SET UP ALONG A LINE FROM VTN TO
OSHKOSH WHICH LINES UP WITH ETA TOTAL DEFORMATION POSITION. ETA HAS
TIMING OF LIFT AT 12Z OVER THIS AREA WHILE THE AVN HAS PEAK LIFT
OCCURRING CLOSER TO 18Z. BEST DEEP LAYER MOISTURE BECOMES AVAILABLE
TODAY. QUESTION WILL BE THE AMOUNT OF LIFT. GOING FORECAST FOR
MEASURABLE SNOW TODAY WILL BE FOLLOW WITH HIGHEST AMOUNTS FAVORED
OVER NORTHWESTERN CWFA. AMOUNTS 1 TO 2 INCHES NORTHWEST TO AROUND AN
INCH SOUTHEAST. FALLING TEMPERATURES TODAY WITH VTN FALLING TO 5-10
ABOVE BY LATE AFTN AND LBF TO AROUND 15. NORTH WINDS TO RANGE FROM
10-20 MPH.

TONIGHT...ETA UPPER TROUGH/AVN UPPER LOW EMERGE ONTO THE PLAINS.
FAVORING THE AVN AT THIS POINT...THE AREA OF DEFORMATION SHIFTS TO
THE SERN CWFA. ENOUGH DEEP MOISTURE THROUGH 12Z ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST
AND WHILE STRONG VORT MAX ENTERS THE PLAINS...700UVV PRESENT ACROSS
SRN CWFA FROM 06Z-12Z. THUS LIKELY POPS SERN TIER OF COUNTIES WITH
TOTAL SNOW AMOUNTS 1 TO 3 INCHES SERN COUNTIES BY FRIDAY MORNING.
TRIMMED BACK TO ONLY 20 POPS NORTHWEST WHERE DRIER MIDLEVEL AIR
PUSHES IN AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS AROUND 0 VTN 5 TO 10 LBF.

FRIDAY...IF SYSTEM REMAINS A CLOSED LOW AS AVN IS
FORECASTING...CLOUDS WILL TAKE LONGER TO CLEAR OUT OF CWFA. WILL
ALSO INCLUDE AROUND 30 POPS SERN TIER OF COUNTIES IN THE MORNING
WHILE NORTHWEST PARTLY SUNNY. A COLD DAY WITH HIGHS 15 TO 20 LBF AND
10 TO 15 VTN.

FRIDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY AND VERY COLD AS SFC HIGH RIDGE OVER
ERN CWFA AND LEESIDE TROUGH BEGINS TO SETUP TO THE WEST. COLDEST
TEMPS TO BE IN THE NORTHEAST WHERE LOWS 5 TO 10 BELOW ONL.

COORD WITH GLD AND GID.

EXTENDED...ADDED CHC OF SNOW FOR WED AS WELL OTHERWISE NO OTHER
CHANGES MADE.

LBF...NONE.

ROBERG

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Sheridan

When: February 8, 11:21 AM CST to 3:39 PM CST
Where: Sheridan forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.505, -102.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Garden

When: February 8, 11:21 AM CST to 3:39 PM CST
Where: Garden forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.619, -102.335 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Grant

When: February 8, 11:21 AM CST to 3:39 PM CST
Where: Grant forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.915, -101.740 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Nebraska in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5229250, 5229251, 5229252.