Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 11, 2001

Name: Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 11, 2001
Start: 2001-03-11T14:00
End: 2001-03-11T21:00
Location: Nebraska

March 11, 2001 · NWS OAX · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

A brief mix of sleet, freezing drizzle and snow changed to a 4 to 6 hour period of freezing rain from parts of southeast Nebraska into west central Iowa. 50 inch range with temperatures at or a little below freezing.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 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: 11

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.

A brief mix of sleet, freezing drizzle and snow changed to a 4 to 6 hour period of freezing rain from parts of southeast Nebraska into west central Iowa. Liquid precipitation amounts were in the .25 to .50 inch range with temperatures at or a little below freezing. Since readings were close to freezing when the precipitation fell, and then climbed to or a little above freezing as the precipitation ended, glazing was not as serious as would have otherwise been expected with the above mentioned precipitation totals. Nonetheless, the glazing that did occur caused above normal traffic accidents and knocked the power out for several thousand customers in the Omaha area.

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 Mar 11, 1:45 PM CST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 11, 1:45 PM CST, 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
145 PM CST SUN MAR 11 2001

MAIN PROBLEMS THROUGH MONDAY MORNING ARE PCPN TYPE AND SNOW/ICE
ACCUMULATIONS.  SURFACE ANALYSIS EARLY THIS AFTN SHOWED LOW PRES
OVER OK.  SECOND LOW WAS DEVELOPING OVER CO.  WARMER AIR ALOFT
CONTS TO BE LIFTED UP OVER SHALLOW BOUNDARY ACROSS MO AND KS.
TEMPS HAVE WARMED A BIT OVER SERN NE...AND THAT AREA SEEMS TO
BE THE LEAST THREATENED WITH FREEZING OR FROZEN PCPN.  BUT IT
MAY SEE AROUND AN INCH OF RAIN.  THIS COULD RESULT IN PROBLEMS
HYDRO WISE ON MONDAY.  WITH SYSTEM WINDING UP AND EJECTING NEWD
OVERNIGHT...BAND OF HEAVY SNOW IS LIKELY.  LOW SHOULD MOVE INTO
NRN MO MONDAY MORNING.  AREA MOST THREATENED WITH BAND OF HEAVY
SNOW IS FROM DAVID CITY TOWARD PENDER AND ONAWA.  THIS IS NOT
TOO FAR OFF FROM LATEST NCEP HAND PROGS.  HAVE COORDINATED WITH
TOP...GID...LBF...FSD AND DSM.  ZFP WILL BE ISSUED EARLY TO GET
THE WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES GOING.  HIGHLIGHTS WILL CONT INTO MON
MORNING.

SNOW SHOULD DECREASE AS MAIN SYSTEM MOVES AWAY ON MONDAY...BUT
FLURRIES MAY LINGER.  DECENT PRESSURE GRADIENT ON THE BACKSIDE OF
SURFACE LOW WILL RESULT IN BLUSTERY CONDS.  NGM MOS LOOKS A LITTLE
COLD TONIGHT...THEN REASONABLE ON MON.  IT IS WAY TOO WARM BY TUE
AND HAVE CUT BACK TEMPS AT LEAST 10 F FOR HIGHS TUE.  SOME LGT
PCPN POSSIBLE WITH UNSETTLED PATTERN WED INTO FRI...THEN MAINLY
DRY FOR THE WEEKEND.  FIRST DRAFT OF THE WORK ZONES WAS SENT...
AND AGAIN ZFP WILL BE ISSUED EARLY.

.OMA...WINTER STORM WARNING MOST AREAS OF ERN NE AND SWRN IA
       INTO MONDAY MORNING EXCEPT COUNTIES LISTED BELOW.
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NERN NE ZONES 11-16 ALSO
       FOR SERN NE ZONES 67-68-90>93 AND IA ZONES 79-80-90-91

MILLER

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Dodge

When: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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, Butler

When: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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, Douglas

When: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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, Jefferson

When: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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, Lancaster

When: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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, Saline

When: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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, Washington

When: March 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 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)

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, March 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: 5235942, 5235943, 5235944, 5235945, 5235946, 5235947, 5235948, 5235949, 5235950, 5235951, 5235952.