Winter Storm in Nebraska, January 30 to 31, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Nebraska, January 30 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-01-30T20:00
End: 2002-01-31T16:00
Location: Nebraska

January 30 to 31, 2002 · NWS GID · 24 events in 24 counties and zones

The first major winter storm belted south-central Nebraska with heavy snow, strong winds and icy cold temperatures. Snowfall ranged from 5 to 12 inches across the area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 24 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: 24

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 GID wrote it up.

The first major winter storm belted south-central Nebraska with heavy snow, strong winds and icy cold temperatures. Snowfall ranged from 5 to 12 inches across the area. Grand Island picked up 12 inches of snow and broke its daily snowfall record. Hastings and Kearney also broke daily snowfall records. The heaviest band of snow fell from around Minden, to Grand Island and Hastings, and then to near Geneva. Nearly every school in the area was closed on the 31st. Fortunately, the snow brought much needed moisture to the region and was nearly all melted within 10 days.

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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 30, 2:20 PM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 2:20 PM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
220 PM CST WED JAN 30 2002

ONLY -SN WITH < INCH ACCUMULATION REPORTED OVR NCNTRL KS AND NEB
BRDR COUNTIES AS OF 20Z.  RADAR SHOWS MORE PCPN COMING UP THE ROAD
...SO NR TWO BY DARK NOT OUT OF THE QN FOR THE KS CWA.  MEANWHILE
TOP RELAYED THAT TWO TO THREE INCHES HAD FALLEN WITH THE BANDS IN
THEIR ADJACENT ZONES.

FORCING VIA ISENTROPIC LIFT WL CONT THRU AT LEAST THU MRNG...NGM IS
MORE PERSISTANT WITH THIS FEATURE...WHILE AVN AND ETA DOWNGLIDE FOR
THE MOST PART BY 18Z.  BEST SPPRTG DVRGNC FIELDS ARE PROGGED TO
SHIFT EAST UNDR RRQ BY THU AM.  MID LVL EPV FIELD ALSO IS
SHIFTED...ALTHOUGH NEG VALUES STILL PROGGED OVR THE EXTREME SERN
ZONES AS OF 12Z THU.  MIX RATIOS PROGGED 2 TO 3 G/KG TO START WITH
ADVECTION OF 4 TO 5 G/KG.  EFFICIENY NOT TOO BAD OVR THE CNTRL CWA
TNGT WITH ABOUT -12 C CUTTING THRU OMEGA CENTROID OVR GRI AS PER ETA
TSCT...NOT AS GOOD FOR POINTS SOUTH.

MID LVL TROF AXIS NOT PROGGED OVR CWA TIL 00Z FRI...WITH NGM
SPORTING A CUTTOFF A 500 MB.  SEE NO EVIDENCE TO ALTER CURRENT
THROUGH THU TIMING...ALTHOUGH BEST CHANCE FOR +SN WL BE TNGT FOR THE
GID CWA.  BOTTOM LINE IS A CONTINUATION OF THE SERN ZONES
WARNING...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR CNTRL PART OF THE CWA WAS ISSUED
AT NOON WITH 6 TO 10 INCHES EXPECTED ACRS THE WARNED AREAS BY THE
END OF THE GAME LATE THU.

FOR THE NWRN THIRD OF THE CWA...OVRRUNNING OF THE COLD SFC AIRMASS
WL CONT WITH GRADUAL SATURATION AND DVLPMNT OF -SN BY EVE.  LONGER
SATURATION TIME...DRY AIR ADVECTING IN EARLIER ALNG WITH LOSS OF UPR
SPPRT WL KP ANY AMOUNTS LOW...ALTHOUGH ADVISORY WENT OUT AT NOON AS
ENUF SN EXPECTED TO BE A NUISANCE.

ADJUSTMENTS IN THE EXTENDED PDS INCLUDE DOWNWARD TEMPERATURE TWEAKS
WITH EXPECTED SN COVER.  ALSO...WL GO WITH QUICKER MRF/12Z
AVN/CANADIAN FOR EARLY WEEK CLIPPER...CHC -SN FOR MON.

.GID...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH THURSDAY FOR SOUTHEASTERN CWA.
NEZ048-049-062>064-073>077-083>087.  KSZ005>007-017>019.

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NORTHWESTERN COUNTIES.  NEZ039-040-046-
047-060-061-072-082.

09

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

24 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Adams

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Adams forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.525, -98.501 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Buffalo

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Buffalo forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.855, -99.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Clay

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.524, -98.051 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dawson

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Dawson forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.870, -99.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Fillmore

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Fillmore forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.525, -97.596 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Franklin

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Franklin forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.176, -98.953 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Furnas

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Furnas forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.177, -99.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Gosper

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Gosper forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.515, -99.831 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Greeley

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Greeley forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.567, -98.521 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hall

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Hall forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.873, -98.502 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hamilton

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Hamilton forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.874, -98.023 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Harlan

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Harlan forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.177, -99.405 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Howard

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Howard forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.220, -98.517 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Kearney

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Kearney forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.507, -98.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Merrick

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Merrick forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.170, -98.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Nance

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Nance forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.397, -97.992 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Nuckolls

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Nuckolls forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.176, -98.047 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Phelps

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Phelps forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.511, -99.414 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Polk

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Polk forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.187, -97.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sherman

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Sherman forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.221, -98.976 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Thayer

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Thayer forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.176, -97.595 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Valley

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Valley forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.567, -98.982 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Webster

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.176, -98.500 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, York

When: January 30, 8:00 PM CST to January 31, 4:00 PM CST
Where: York forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 40.873, -97.597 (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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, January 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: 5279793, 5279794, 5279795, 5279796, 5279797, 5279798, 5279799, 5279800, 5279801, 5279802, 5279803, 5279804, 5279805, 5279806, 5279807, 5279808, 5279809, 5279810, 5279811, 5279812, 5279813, 5279814, 5279815, 5279886.