Winter Storm in Nebraska, January 13 to 14, 2001

Name: Winter Storm in Nebraska, January 13 to 14, 2001
Start: 2001-01-13T11:37
End: 2001-01-14T04:00
Location: Nebraska

January 13 to 14, 2001 · NWS LBF · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

8 winter storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 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 Jan 13, 3:55 AM CST, 7 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 13, 3:55 AM CST, 7 hours 42 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
355 AM CST SAT JAN 13 2001

...CHALLENGE WILL BE SNOW AMOUNTS THROUGH TONIGHT...

UPPER PATTERN FEATURES A LARGE UPPER TROF OVER THE ROCKIES...A RIDGE
OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. AND TROFING ALONG THE EAST COAST. AT THE
SURFACE...LOW PRESSURE IS CENTERED OVER EASTERN COLORADO WITH AN
INVERTED TROF EXTENDING THROUGH THE NE PANHANDLE.

OVERALL THIS SYSTEM LOOKS SIMILAR TO THE NOVEMBER 11 SNOW EVENT
WITH LESSER TOTAL PRECIP. UPPER LOW EXPECTED TO GAIN NEGATIVE TILT
TODAY AS IT LIFTS OUT INTO KANSAS WHILE THE SURFACE LOW IS FORECAST
TO MOVE EASTWARD THROUGH KANSAS. SHOULD BE A QUICK SNOW EVENT
LASTING AROUND 9 HOURS WITH FLURRIES THEREAFTER...ALTHOUGH PRECIP
MAY START OUT AS LIQUID WITH CURRENT TEMP/DEWPOINTS ABOVE FREEZING.
TROF PASSAGE AND SEEDER/FEEDER DYNAMIC COOLING SHOULD TURN
PRECIP OVER TO SNOW BY AFTERNOON. H85 FRONTOGENESIS WILL BE ALIGNED
WITH UPPER LEVEL PV ADVECTION...GOOD LOW LEVEL WAA/UPGLIDE AND UPPER
DIVERGENCE ALL INDICATED ALONG AN AXIS FROM IML TO ANW. APPEARS SNOWS
WILL BEGIN LATE THIS MORNING IN THE SOUTHWEST...SPREAD NORTHEASTWARD
AND DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON IN NORTH CENTRAL ZONES. PLENTY OF
MOISTURE AVAILABLE BUT NOT AS MUCH AS WITH 11/11 STORM AND
CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL IS MUCH LOWER THIS TIME AROUND. THUS HAVE OPTED
TO GO WITH A SNOW ADVISORY. ALSO EXPECT NORTHWEST WINDS TO INCREASE
AFTER INVERTED TROF PASSES WILL NOT GO HIGHER THAN BREEZY THROUGH
TONIGHT DUE TO PRECIPITATION DRAG.

UPPER LOW TO MOVE SLOWLY FROM NEAR OMA TO NORTH CENTRAL IA ON
SUNDAY WITH WRAP AROUND CLOUDS INTO THE CWA. LARGE SCALE SUBSIDENCE
INTO KANSAS INDICATED BY LAYER Q-VECS SHOULD END MOST PRECIP OVER
SOUTHERN HALF OF CWA ON SUNDAY. HOWEVER WEAK MID LEVEL WAA
WRAPPING NORTH OF UPPER LOW MAY CONTINUE CHANCE OF FLURRIES
ESPECIALLY IN NORTHERN ZONES. NOT OVERLY CONCERNED WITH ETA/AVN ONE
HUNDREDTH QPFS WHICH ARE TYPICAL OF FLURRY EVENTS. BREEZY
CONDITIONS A CERTAINTY WITH TIGHT LOW LEVEL GRADIENTS. DUE TO
PERSISTENT TROFING ALL MODELS SUGGEST CLOUDINESS WILL CONTINUE INTO
SUNDAY NIGHT...ALTHOUGH SOME BREAKS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE
SOUTHWEST. GRADIENTS WILL BEGIN TO RELAX...HOWEVER CLOUDS SHOULD
PREVENT TEMPS FROM DROPPING TOO FAR DESPITE FRESH SNOW COVER.

IN THE EXTENDED...NO CHANGES MADE TO PREVIOUS FORECAST. MODERATING
TEMPS APPEAR LIKELY BY LATE IN THE WEEK.

.LBF...SNOW ADVISORY SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT
       ZONES 005>010-023>029-035>038-057>059-069>071.

DJB

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, Holt

When: January 13, 11:37 AM CST to January 14, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Holt forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.456, -98.784 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wheeler

When: January 13, 11:37 AM CST to January 14, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Wheeler forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.915, -98.528 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Boyd

When: January 13, 11:37 AM CST to January 14, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Boyd forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.900, -98.766 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A surface low pressure system developed over Central Colorado with the associated frontal boundary extending north along the front range. The storm systems track provided a period of time which southerly winds surged warm...moist gulf air north.The system moved slowly onto the Western High Plains before the main surface low center rapidly deepened over Southeast Colorado, then lifted Northeast across Kansas into Iowa overnight. The initial rainfall changed to freezing rain...then to snow as Northwest winds filtered in colder air behind the system. The wrap around cloud coverage resulted in a prolonged period of snowfall that was heavy at times across North Central Nebraska. A 10 hour lead time was provided when a Snow Advisory was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning for 7 counties in North Central Nebraska. The mixture of precipitation left roadways slick and hazardous with storm snow totals of 2 to 7 inches. The maximum snow depths of 7 inches occurred 9 miles Northeast of Sargent (Custer county) in the extreme eastern portion of the warned area.

Winter Storm, Garfield

When: January 13, 11:37 AM CST to January 14, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Garfield forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.914, -98.991 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Loup

When: January 13, 11:37 AM CST to January 14, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Loup forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.914, -99.454 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Rock

When: January 13, 11:37 AM CST to January 14, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Rock forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.421, -99.450 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Custer

When: January 13, 11:37 AM CST to January 14, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Custer forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.394, -99.726 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Brown

When: January 13, 11:37 AM CST to January 14, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Brown forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.430, -99.929 (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 Nebraska in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, January 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: 5227620, 5227621, 5227725, 5227726, 5227727, 5227728, 5227729, 5227730.