Winter Storm in Nebraska, February 8 to 9, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Nebraska, February 8 to 9, 2002
Start: 2002-02-08T14:00
End: 2002-02-09T16:00
Location: Nebraska

February 8 to 9, 2002 · NWS CYS · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

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

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: 5

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 Cheyenne, WY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 8, 3:12 AM MST, 10 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 8, 3:12 AM MST, 10 hours 48 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
312 AM MST FRI FEB 8 2002

COMPLICATED FORECAST FOR THE REGION THROUGH SATURDAY.  A VERY STRONG
SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING INTO CENTRAL IDAHO AND EASTERN NEVADA EARLY
THIS MORNING WILL MOVE EAST AND FORM A CLOSED LOW TONIGHT OVER WESTERN
NEBRASKA.  IMPRESSIVE HEIGHT FALL AND RISE COUPLET WILL MOVE OVER THE
CWA WITH 180 METER 12 HOUR HEIGHT FALLS OVER SOUTHEAST WYOMING AT
00Z AT 500 MB.  ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT WAS MOVING INTO EASTERN
IDAHO AT 09Z WITH OVER 6 MB SURFACE PRESSURE RISES BEHIND THE FRONT
IN STRONG COLD AIR ADVECTION.  SURFACE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE
CWA BETWEEN 15Z AND 22Z...WITH STRONG BORA TYPE WINDS BEHIND THE
FRONT.  WILL GO AHEAD AND ISSUE A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR MUCH OF THE CWA
FOR A PORTION OF TODAY AND CONTINUING INTO EARLY TONIGHT.  AS THE UPPER
LOW AND SURFACE LOW MOVE ONTO THE PLAINS TONIGHT THE WINDS BECOME MORE
NORTHERLY...WITH MODELS SHOWING GOOD RISING MOTION ESPECIALLY BETWEEN
06Z AND 15Z SATURDAY.  THE POSITION OF THE SURFACE LOW WOULD TEND TO
BRING MORE SNOW TO THE NORTH PARTS OF THE CWA TONIGHT AND INTO
SATURDAY MORNING.  THE STRONG NORTH WINDS MAY GUST AS HIGH AS 70 MPH
OVER AND TO THE EAST OF THE LARAMIE RANGE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.  IN
THE NORTHERN AREAS WITH THE GOOD POSSIBILITY OF SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW
BELIEVE THAT BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL EXIST AT TIMES.  IN THOSE AREAS
WILL ISSUE A HIGH WIND WATCH FOR LATE EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY
MORNING.  THE WINDS DECREASE SOME SATURDAY AFTERNOON AS THE SURFACE
PRESSURE GRADIENT RELAXES.  THE WEATHER IMPROVES SATURDAY NIGHT AND
SUNDAY...WITH TEMPERATURES REBOUNDING ALMOST 20 DEGREES EAST OF THE
MOUNTAINS FROM THOSE OF SATURDAY.  IN THE SHORT TERM...TEMPERATURES
TODAY WILL OCCUR AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND MAY AGAIN BE MILD...ESPECIALLY
IN THE WESTERN NEBRASKA PANHANDLE.  WITH THE DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT OVER
THE CWA AND LIFTED INDICES ONLY A BIT ABOVE ZERO...A FEW THUNDERSTORMS
CANNOT BE RULED OUT AS SOME WERE NOTED IN SOUTHWEST IDAHO EARLIER THIS
MORNING.  WILL NOT CHANGE THE EXTENDED PART OF THE FORECAST AT THIS
TIME.

.CYS...
WY...HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY SOUTH CENTRAL.  ZONES 61..62.
     HIGH WIND WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT MUCH OF THE
     SOUTHEAST.  ZONES 63>70.
     HIGH WIND WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING EAST CENTRAL.  ZONES
     59..60.
     WINTER STORM WATCH LATE THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING
     EAST CENTRAL.  ZONES 59..60.
NE...HIGH WIND WARNING LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SOUTHERN
     PANHANDLE.  ZONES 19>21..54..55.
     HIGH WIND WARNING LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING NORTHERN
     PANHANDLE.  ZONES 1>3.
     WINTER STORM WATCH LATE THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING
     NORTHERN PANHANDLE.  ZONES 1>3.

WEILAND

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Banner

When: February 8, 2:00 PM MST to February 9, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Banner forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.546, -103.710 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cheyenne

When: February 8, 2:00 PM MST to February 9, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Cheyenne forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.220, -102.995 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Kimball

When: February 8, 2:00 PM MST to February 9, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Kimball forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.198, -103.715 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Scotts Bluff

When: February 8, 2:00 PM MST to February 9, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Scotts Bluff forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.851, -103.708 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sioux

When: February 8, 2:00 PM MST to February 9, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Sioux forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Strong and gusty winds combined with snow to produce blizzard-like conditions over parts of the Nebraska panhandle. Winds gusted as high as 51 mph at Sidney, NE, with sustained winds of35 to 45 mph common. Only a few inches of snow fell, but the strong winds created significantblowing and drifting snow. Interstate 80 from Sidney to the Wyoming border was closed as wellas other roads in the western part of the Nebraska panhandle.

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, February 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: 5283428, 5283429, 5283430, 5283431, 5283432.