High Wind in Nebraska, April 17, 2002

Name: High Wind in Nebraska, April 17, 2002
Start: 2002-04-17T15:30
End: 2002-04-17T17:30
Location: Nebraska

April 17, 2002 · NWS LBF · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Strong winds accompanying a front were enhanced by collapsing cumulus clouds. The winds carried dirt and dust 30 to 50 feet into the air and reduced visibilities to 1 to 3 miles over a large area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Strong winds accompanying a front were enhanced by collapsing cumulus clouds. The winds carried dirt and dust 30 to 50 feet into the air and reduced visibilities to 1 to 3 miles over a large area. No damage was reported with the wind storm.

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 Apr 17, 2:13 PM CST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 2:13 PM CST, 1 hour 17 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
313 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

...FCST CHALLENEGE INVOLVES TIMING OF FRONT THU/PRECIP TYPE FOR THE
WEEKEND..

SFC HIGH SLIDING SEWD AS LOW DEVELOPS OVER C WY. GRADIENTS
CONTINUES TO TIGHTEN OVER WRN NE AND IS REFLECTED BY WIND FIELDS.
WARM FRONT SITUATED OVER NRN KS ATTM LIFTING NWD AS ADVERTIZED. ETA
INITIALIZED MUCH TOO COOL OVER THE NRN HIGH PLAINS AT 12Z...AND A
BIT TOO WARM OVER THE PAC NW. WINDS IN THE WRN CWA MAY FLIRT W/ WIND
ADV CRITERIA FOR AN HOUR OR TWO BEFORE SUNSET...BUT SHOULD STAY
UNDER FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT WITH GOOD RADIATIONAL COOLING
HELPING TO DECOUPLE THE WINDS SOME.

FIRST TO THE DAY 1 OUTLOOK...SLGT RISK INDICATED OVER NERN CWA. ETA
HAS A PRETTY GOOD HANDLE ON PLACEMENT OF WARM FRONT BY 18Z...WHICH
IS PROGGED TO CONTINUE LIFTING NWD AND BECOME MORE DIFFUSE OVER THE
HIGH PLAINS. ETA PROGS SFC DEW POINTS IN THE 50S IN ERN NE...BUT
STILL ONLY M30S TO M40S IN LBF CWA ACROSS MOST OF LBF CWA BY 06Z.
GOOD 850 MB MOISTURE CONVERGENCE ACROSS SERN NEN BY 06Z WITH SOME
UPPER SUPPORT...AND WEAK MID LEVEL FRONTOGENESIS ACROSS NWRN CWA AS
WELL...YET NEITHER AVN/ETA INDICATE MUCH PRECIP. MID LEVEL LAPSE
RATES APPROACHING 9 C LATE TONIGHT IN AREA OF MID LEVEL
FRONTOGENEIS...HOWEVER SOUNDINGS INDICATE A SIGNIFICANT LACK OF
MOISTURE THROUGHOUT THE ATMOSPHERE. WITH LLJ INCREASING TO 50KT
OVERNIGHT...ALTHOUGH FROM THE SW...WILL INCLUDE/LEAVE IN ISOLD POPS
IN NRN CWA OVERNIGHT...THINKING THERE MAY BE A SMALL WINDOW BETWEEN
04Z-08Z WHEN TSRA COULD DEVELOP. THERE MAY BE SOME POTENTIAL FOR
STRONG WIND GUSTS WITH ELEVATED CLOUD BASES AND STRONG WINDS ALOFT
AND SIGNIFICANT EVAP COOLING POTENTIAL BTWN CLOUD BASE AND GROUND
WITH ANY TSRA THAT DO FORM...HOWEVER WIDESPREAD SVR GUSTS SEEM
UNLIKELY. DRYLINE MOVES EWD OVERNIGHT...UNUSUAL TIME OF DAY.
HOWEVER...WITH 850-700 MB WINDS WRLY...ANY FORCING WOULD BE OUT
AHEAD OF SFC FEATURE...MORE LIKELY NE OF CWA.

FRONT APPROACHES NRN CWA THUSDAY AFTERNOON. MOST OF THE CWA SHOULD
SEE GOOD SUNSHINE DURING THE DAY AND WITH DEEP LYR OF WRLY
DOWNSLOPE WINDS AHEAD OF FRONT...SHOULD WARM NICELY. NRN CWA SHOULD
SEE TEMPS SLOWLY FALL BY LATE AFTERNOON WITH 850 MB TEMPS DROPPING
BELOW ZERO C. STRATUS WILL SLIDE S BEHIND THE FRONT...AND BY
NIGHTFALL SHOULD GIVE THE POTENTIAL FOR DZ IN THE S WITH FZDZ PSBL
IF STRONG COOLING TAKES PLACE AS PROJECTED. FURTHER N...MID LEVEL
FORCING BEING STRONGER WILL ALLOW FOR SHRA/SHSN CHCS. HOWEVER...AS
LONG WAVE CONTINUES TO TAKE SHAPE FURTHER W...RIDGING WILL TAKE
PLACE DOWNSTREAM OVER OUR CWA WHICH SHOULD SHIFT THE BEST LARGE
SCALE FORCING FURTHER N AND E AS INDICATED BY LARGE SCALE
DOWNGLIDE IN ISENTROPIC PROGS FRI NIGHT...WITH UPSLOPE FORCING TAKING
PLACE FURTHER W. WILL GENERALLY NOT GO OVERBOARD ON PRECIP CHCS AS
CURRENT FCST SAYS.

BEYOND THAT...A GOOD MODERATION TAKES PLACE...AND ENSEMBLE RUNS
OF THE MRF ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT BY DAY 5 OR SO. MRF ALSO PARALLELS
ECMWF PRETTY CLOSE FOR THE WEEKEND.

.LBF...NONE.

JWS

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 17, 10:17 AM CST, 5 hours 13 minutes before

NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-172045-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
1117 AM CDT WED APR 17 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPMENT POSSIBLE OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL
THIS EVENING INTO TONIGHT...

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT INTO TONIGHT. THE GREATEST CHANCE FOR
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE EAST OF A SPRINGVIEW...ALMERIA AND
SARGENT LINE.

A SURFACE HIGH WILL BUILD EAST DURING THE AFTERNOON...WITH RETURN
FLOW ESTABLISHING AS SURFACE WINDS RETURN TO THE SOUTHEAST. A WARM
FRONT WILL LIFT NORTHEAST THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AS AN AREA OF LOW
PRESSURE DEVELOPS OVER EASTERN WYOMING. THE LOW WILL DEEPEN...AND
MOVE NORTHEAST THROUGH SOUTHERN SOUTH DAKOTA OVERNIGHT. MOISTURE WILL
BE SLOW TO RETURN THIS AFTERNOON...WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS WHICH FORM
ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE WARM FRONT HIGH BASED AND CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
STRONG WIND GUSTS. CONSIDERING TIME OF DAY AND MOISTURE PROFILES
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE LIMITED WITH WIND THE PRIMARY
THREAT.

NO THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT EXPECTED OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE
OUTLOOK AREA IN WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Lincoln

When: April 17, 3:30 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
Where: Lincoln forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.048, -100.745 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Custer

When: April 17, 4:30 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where: Custer forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.394, -99.726 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Nebraska in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, April 2002

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: 5284714, 5284713.