Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 1, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 1, 2002
Start: 2002-03-01T10:00
End: 2002-03-01T15:00
Location: Nebraska

March 1, 2002 · NWS LBF · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 10 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: 10

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.

A winter storm brought heavy snow, strong winds, and cold wind chills values as low pressure moved across Kansas. Snowfall amounts of 6 to 7 inches accumulated in portions of Hayes, Frontier, Lincoln, Logan, Thomas, Blaine, Loup, Garfield, and Wheeler counties. Snowfall amounts of 8 to 10 inches accumulated in southeast Custer county. Temperatures in the single digits with north winds of 20 to 30 mph created winds chill values of 10 to 20 below zero.

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 Mar 1, 3:45 AM CST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 1, 3:45 AM CST, 6 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
345 AM CST FRI MAR 1 2002

...BIG FORECAST PROBLEM IS THE STORM CROSSING THE PLAINS TODAY...

...09Z SYNOPSIS...
     ANALYSIS OF THE SURFACE FEATURES INDICATED A LOW IN SOUTH
CENTRAL COLORADO AND ANOTHER IN THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE WITH A
WARM/STATIONARY FRONT DRAPED ACROSS SOUTHERN KANSAS AND INTO THE
TEXAS PANHANDLE. IN THE UPPER LEVELS...WIND PROFILER SHOWED A
CLOSED LOW IN CENTRAL COLORADO AT 700MB WHILE THE 6.7U IMAGERY
INDICATED A DEVELOPING WAVE WITH ITS INFLECTION POINT NEAR THE
CORNER OF WYOMING, COLORADO, AND UTAH.
...MODELS...
     THERE IS REALLY VERY LITTLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AVN AND THE
ETA IN THE TRACK OF THE DEVELOPING CYCLONE AND THE ONSET OF ARCTIC
AIR. THE CURRENT FORECAST SEEMS TO FIT WELL WITH THE MODELS WITH
QPFS AND WIND. SO, I HAVE BLENDED THE CURRENT FORECAST WITH THE
MODELS WITH SOME DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENT TO TEMPERATURES.

TODAY...
LOOKING AT THE 00Z ETA ON THE 280K AND 285K THETA
SURFACES...ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE WILL STILL GET UPPER SUPPORT FROM
2D-FRONTOGENESIS IN A DEFORMATION ZONE OVER SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL
SOUTH DAKOTA. WITH THE FORCING CONTINUING FOR ABOUT 12 HOURS AND
SPECIFIC HUMIDITY OF 1.5-3.0 G/KG, 3-6 INCHES OF SNOW IS A
REASONABLE FORECAST. COMBINING THAT WITH 20-30 MPH WIND...THE WINTER
STORM WARNING IS STILL WARRANTED. S0, WITHOUT SOME ADDITIONAL
OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE IN THE 06Z RUN, I AM NOT PLANNING ON
DOWNGRADING ANY OF THE CURRENT HEADLINES.
TONIGHT...
SNOW WILL TAPER OFF THIS EVENING. THEN, FOR THE NEXT FOUR DAYS, I
HAVE ADJUSTED TEMPERATURES DOWN BASED ON SNOWFALL TODAY.

HAVE MADE ONLY COSMETIC ADJUSTMENTS BEYOND DAY 4.

.LBF...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING
       NEZ024>027-036>038-058-059-069>070
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY FOR NEZ005-008>010-028-029

SPRINGER

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Logan

When: March 1, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Logan forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.567, -100.483 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Thomas

When: March 1, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Thomas forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 41.914, -100.556 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Frontier

When: March 1, 12:45 PM CST
Where: Frontier forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.530, -100.394 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Custer

When: March 1, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Custer forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.394, -99.726 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Blaine

When: March 1, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Blaine forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 41.913, -99.977 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Loup

When: March 1, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Loup forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.914, -99.454 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Garfield

When: March 1, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Garfield forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.914, -98.991 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wheeler

When: March 1, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Wheeler forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 41.915, -98.528 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lincoln

When: March 1, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 41.048, -100.745 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hayes

When: March 1, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Hayes forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.525, -101.062 (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, March 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: 5282451, 5282453, 5282449, 5282452, 5282454, 5282455, 5282456, 5282457, 5282450, 5282448.