Winter Storm in Nebraska, November 26, 2001

Name: Winter Storm in Nebraska, November 26, 2001
Start: 2001-11-26T10:20
End: 2001-11-26T17:50
Location: Nebraska

November 26, 2001 · NWS LBF · 18 events in 18 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 18 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: 18

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.

An intense upper level low pressure system over Colorado moved northeast across Western Kansas and Nebraska. Near blizzard conditions developed over portions of Western Nebraska as a cold front moved through the area by early morning producing moderate to heavy snow and strong northerly winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to near 40 mph. Interstate 80 and Highway 30 were closed by early morning across Deuel County. As the cold front moved southeast through the morning, moderate to heavy snow and strong winds spread into North Central Nebraska. Snow totals ranged from 6 to 14 inches with the heaviest snow bands (12 to 14 inches) extending across Deuel, Garden, Grant, and Hooker counties, and also across, northern Brown and northern Rock counties.

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 Nov 26, 4:07 AM CST, 6 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 26, 4:07 AM CST, 6 hours 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST PRODUCT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
407 AM CST MON NOV 26 2001

...FORECAST CHALLENGE TO BE TIMING OF EXIT OF ONGOING WINTER STORM
THEN TEMPS...

CURRENT SFC ANALYSIS AS OF 5Z INDICATING SFC LOW JUST WEST OF KGLD.
WARM FRONT EXTENDING EWD FROM GLD TO NORTH OF KFNB. SNOW CONTINUES
TO FALL ACROSS NRN HALF OF CWA WITH A DRY SLOT EVIDENT OVR KLBF
CURRENTLY PER NEXRAD AND IR IMAGERY. UPPER AIR PATTERN CONTINUES TO
BE A HODGEPODGE OF TROFS AND RIDGES. TROFING IN THE WEST AND RIDGING
IN THE EAST. H5 HIGH OVER AK FOLLOWED BY AN ALEUTIAN LOW. ETA AND
AVN IN GOOD AGREEMENT INITIALLY...BUT WAVER AT 60 HRS WITH NEXT SW
ACROSS CENTER OF COUNTRY. AVN KEEPS A SRN ROUTE WITH ETA TAKING A
MORE NORTHERN ROUTE. GIVEN AVN TRACK RECORD ON LAST TWO WINTER
STORMS...PREFER THE AVN IN OUTER PERIODS...WHILE I PREFER THE ETA IN
THE SHORT TERM AS IT IS HANDLING THE LOWER LEVELS BEST WITH CURRENT
WINTER STORM. AS OF 06Z...THE ETA HAS A BETTER HANDLE ON THE SURFACE
LOW STRENGTH AS WELL AS POSITION BUT IS STILL UNDERESTIMATING THE
STRENGTH. THE PROBLEM LIES WITH THE DRY SLOT...IT IS TOO FAR EAST IN
THE MODEL.

TODAY AND TONIGHT...CURRENT LOW TRACK PER ETA HAS THE BEST PCPN
ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM CHAPPELL TO ONL. THIS CONTINUES TO BE
SUPPORTED WITH GOOD H7 FRONTOGENESIS COUPLED WITH GOOD OMEGA AT THIS
LEVEL ALSO. THE TRACK OF THE H5 COLD POOL AS WELL AS THE BEST H7 WAA
IS ALONG THIS LINE ALSO. DUE TO POSITIONING OF THE DRY SLOT...MAY
TAKE LOGAN...WHEELER...GARFIELD...AND LOUP COUNTIES OUT OF THE WINTER STORM
WARNING. THIS CALL WILL BE MADE NEAR ISSUANCE. WILL GO WITH HIGHEST
AMOUNTS IN THE WERN ZONES...IE GARDEN TO HOOKER TO VTN. SHOULD SEE
AM HIGHS EVERYWHERE WITH COLD AIR ADVECTING IN QUICKLY BEHIND. WILL
KEEP REST OF CWA IN WINTER WX ADV AS WE COULD SEE SOME FREEZING RAIN
IN THE SRN ZONES...WITH LIGHT SNOW LATER. SNOW SHOULD TAPER OFF BY
EVENING IN ERN ZONES WITH FLURRIES EVERYWHERE ELSE. MOISTURE PROFILE
REMAINS SATURATED OVERNIGHT ACROSS ALL OF CWA. WITH COLD AIR IN
PLACE...SHOULD SEE LOWS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS IN THE NORTH. THIS
SHOULD BE HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON SNOW COVER. AS FOR WINDS WILL PROBABLY
GO WITH SOME GUSTS TO 50 MPH IN OPEN AREAS IN THE SW.

.TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT...WILL LEAVE FLURRIES IN FCST ON TUESDAY.
MODEL SOUNDINGS CONTINUE TO BE SATURATED WITH COOLING EXPECTED
THROUGHOUT DAY. HAVE OPTED FOR COOLER TEMPS...PARTICULARLY IN NRN
2/3RDS OF CWA DUE TO EXPECTED DEEP SNOW COVER. WILL CONTINUE FLURRIES
INTO TUESDAY NIGHT...AGAIN COOLING IS EXPECTED IN MODEL SOUNDINGS
AND THE MOISTURE PROFILE REMAINS NEARLY SATURATED. SHOULD BE VERY
COLD ON TUESDAY NIGHT AS SFC HIGH MOVES INTO THE FRONTRANGE. WITH
SNOW COVER IN PLACE AND WINDS BECOMING LIGHT...COULD SEE SOME
READINGS NEAR ZERO IN THE NORTH.

TROF SLIDES EAST OF CWA ON WEDNESDAY AND CWA WILL BE IN GOOD
SUBSIDENCE. WITH COLD AIR IN PLACE AND SNOW COVER IN THE NRN
ZONES...TEMPS WILL STRUGGLE TO GET OUT OF THE 20S.

NO CHANGES MADE TO THE EXTENDED AT THIS TIME.

.LBF...WINTER STORM WARNING NEZ004>010-094-022>026-035>037-056
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NEZ027>029-038-057>059-069>071

CLB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

18 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Cherry

When: November 26, 10:20 AM CST
Where: Cherry forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.545, -101.119 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Holt

When: November 26, 10:25 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, Arthur

When: November 26, 10:45 AM CST
Where: Arthur forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.569, -101.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Grant

When: November 26, 10:45 AM CST
Where: Grant forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.915, -101.740 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hooker

When: November 26, 10:50 AM CST
Where: Hooker forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.916, -101.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sheridan

When: November 26, 10:55 AM CST
Where: Sheridan forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.505, -102.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Brown

When: November 26, 11:13 AM CST
Where: Brown forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.430, -99.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Keya Paha

When: November 26, 11:15 AM CST
Where: Keya Paha forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.879, -99.712 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Rock

When: November 26, 11:20 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, Boyd

When: November 26, 11:25 AM CST
Where: Boyd forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.900, -98.766 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Thomas

When: November 26, 11:40 AM CST
Where: Thomas forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.914, -100.556 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, McPherson

When: November 26, 2:30 PM CST
Where: McPherson forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.568, -101.060 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Blaine

When: November 26, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Blaine forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.913, -99.977 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Loup

When: November 26, 3:12 PM 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, Garden

When: November 26, 3:30 PM CST
Where: Garden forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.619, -102.335 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Deuel

When: November 26, 3:35 PM CST
Where: Deuel forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.112, -102.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Keith

When: November 26, 3:40 PM CST
Where: Keith forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.199, -101.661 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wheeler

When: November 26, 5:50 PM CST
Where: Wheeler forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.915, -98.528 (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, November 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: 5272210, 5272213, 5272205, 5272212, 5272214, 5272220, 5272208, 5272216, 5272219, 5272207, 5272221, 5272218, 5272206, 5272217, 5272211, 5272209, 5272215, 5272222.