Winter Storm in Nebraska, January 29 to 30, 2001

Name: Winter Storm in Nebraska, January 29 to 30, 2001
Start: 2001-01-29T09:00
End: 2001-01-30T23:00
Location: Nebraska

January 29 to 30, 2001 · NWS OAX · 12 events in 12 counties and zones

Heavy snow moved into northeast Nebraska Monday morning 1/29/01 and continued until a little past midnight Tuesday morning. The snow was preceded by a period of freezing drizzle.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 12 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: 12

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.

Heavy snow moved into northeast Nebraska Monday morning 1/29/01 and continued until a little past midnight Tuesday morning. The snow was preceded by a period of freezing drizzle. Although additional snow moved back into northeast Nebraska Tuesday afternoon...most of the accumulations occurred Monday. However, the wind picked up late Monday night and continued through Tuesday afternoon causing considerable blowing and drifting snow. Most schools were closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and the blowing snow closed many country roads at least one lane to many east to west highways in northeast Nebraska. Heavier snow amounts included, 12 to 14 inches at Bloomfield, 11 inches at Laurel, 10 inches at Loretto and Cedar Rapids, 9 inches in West Point, 8 inches at Neligh, Osmond, Madison and Albion and 6 inches at Norfolk. When combined with northwest winds of 30 to 45 mph...drifts of 5 to 7 feet were relatively common by Wednesday morning.

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 Jan 29, 3:25 AM CST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 3:25 AM CST, 5 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
325 AM CST MON JAN 29 2001

MAJOR UPPER TROF MOVING INTO PLAINS FORECAST CONCERN. 29/00Z MODEL
RUNS NOW APPEAR TO TRACK MID LEVEL CIRCULATION CENTER SOMEWHAT
FURTHER TO THE NORTH ALONG THE NEB AND KS BORDER AS UPPER TROF MOVES
INTO PLAINS....WHICH TENDS TO NOW PLACE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVIER SNOW
AMOUNTS MORE INTO NERN NEB. KEY TO FCST WILL BE HOW FAR SOUTH THESE
H5 AND H7 CIRCULATION FEATURE ARE FORCED EAST AND SOUTH FROM UPPER
LOW NOW OVER NE CO AS SHORTWAVE ENERGY MOVES THROUGH BOTTOM OF TROF.
AVN MODEL CONTINUES TO BE MOST INTENSE WITH THIS ENERGY MOVING
THROUGH TROF AND MAKING UPPER TROF MORE NEGATIVE TILT. AREA SOMEWHAT
IN LULL PRECIP WISE AT THE MOMENT BUT SHOULD SEE PRECIP BECOME MORE
WIDESPREAD AS Q VECTOR AND OMEGA FIELDS INCREASE TOWARD 18Z AS MID
LEVEL FLOW BACKS. IN ADDTION BY THIS TIME SFC LOW IN OK SHOULD
BEGING TO STRENGTHEN RAPIDLY AND START TO MOVE NNEWD KICKING MORE
THAN SUFFICIENT LOW MOISTURE INTO SYSTEM. COOK AND GARCIA CONCEPTS
POINT ALONG WITH MODEL QPF AND SNOW PREDICTORS GENLY POINT TO AROUND
6 TO 10 INCH AMOUNTS AS FIRST GUESS IN NERN NEB RANGING TO 2 TO 4 IN
PTNS SE NEB INTO SW IA. HOWEVER CONCERN AFFECTING SNOW AMOUNTS IN SE
NEB AND SW IA WILL BE PRECIP TYPE. APPEARS AREAS OF E CNTRL AND SE
NEB INTO WRN IA WILL CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE WINTRY MIX OF
SLEET...FREEZING RAIN...RAIN AND SNOW THROUGH AROUND 18Z BEFORE
DYNAMIC COOLING LOWERS THICKNESS AND ERODES WARMER AOA 0C LAYER TO
CHANGE PRECIP TYPE TO SNOW. ALTHOUGH THE MOST ADVERSE WEATHER NOT
LIKELY TO DEVELOP TOWARD 16Z TO 18Z...WITH WARNINGS IN EFFECT
ALREADY FOR TODAY AND NOT TO CONFUSE USERS...WILL RETAIN WARNINGS
AND JUSTIFY WITH WORDING FOR MRNG ADDRESSING THE WINTRY MIX WHICH
COULD STILL CAUSE PROBLEMS DURG THE MRNG HOURS. WILL THEN PUT MORE
EMPHASIS IN AFTN FOR LATER THIS AFTN INTO TNGT. FOR NERN NEB WILL GO
WITH WARNING THIS STRATING THIS AFTN AND THEN FOR TONIGT INTO TUE
MRNG. PRECIP AMOUNTS BY TUE MRNG DIMINISHING BUT WINDS COULD CREATE
PROBLEMS ESPCLY IN NERN NEB WITH BLOWING AND DRIFTING. PATTERN ALSO
NOT THAT CLEAN LATER TUE INTO WED WITH COLD UPPER TROF MOVING
RAPIDLY IN BEHIND EXITING SYSTEM.

.OMA...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT...E CNTRL AND SE NEB AND
       SW IA.
       WINTER STORM WARNING THIS AFTERNOON...TNIGHT AND TUE MRNG NERN
       NEB

WIESE

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Knox

When: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Knox forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.637, -97.892 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Antelope

When: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Antelope forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.177, -98.067 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Boone

When: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Boone forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.707, -98.067 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cedar

When: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Cedar forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.599, -97.252 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Colfax

When: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 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: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 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, Madison

When: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 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, Pierce

When: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Pierce forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.264, -97.601 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Platte

When: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 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, Stanton

When: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 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: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 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, Wayne

When: January 29, 9:00 AM CST to January 30, 11:00 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

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: 5227797, 5227798, 5227799, 5227800, 5227801, 5227802, 5227803, 5227804, 5227805, 5227806, 5227807, 5227913.