Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 14, 2002

Name: Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 14, 2002
Start: 2002-03-14T06:00
End: 2002-03-14T18:00
Location: Nebraska

March 14, 2002 · NWS LBF · 13 events in 13 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 13 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: 13

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 low pressure system moved northeast across Kansas into southeast Nebraska and brought heavy snow to much of north central Nebraska. Strong north winds gusting to near 50 mph also caused near zero visibility during the afternoon of March 14th. The heaviest snowfall amounts of 10 to 20 inches fell across northern Sheridan and northern Cherry counties. Snowfall amounts ranging from 3 to 8 inches occured over much of the remainder of north central Nebraska.

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 14, 3:25 AM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 14, 3:25 AM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes before

NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-131939-

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
325 AM CST THU MAR 14 2002

...FORECAST CHALLENGE TO BE SNOW IN NRN CWA TODAY AND TONIGHT...

CURRENT SCENARIO HAS MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF SNOW BEING ACCUMULATED
ACROSS NWRN CHERRY AND NRN SHERIDAN COUNTIES. REPORTS AS OF LATE
EVENING HAD IN EXCESS OF 11 NORTH OF RUSHVILLE...AND 11-12 AT GORDON IN
SHERIDAN COUNTY. FARTHER EAST...VALENTINE HAD 3 ON THE GROUND AS OF
10 PM CST. REST OF THE CWA HAS REMAINED DRY AT THIS JUNCTURE AS THE
MID AND UPPER LEVELS STILL REMAIN TOO DRY. GOOD ISENTROPIC LIFT IS
PRESENT ACROSS ALL OF THE CWA TODAY...THE TRICK WILL BE DETERMINING
WHERE AND IF THE DENDRITIC LAYER CAN BECOME SATURATED SOUTH OF THE
PRESENT HEAVY SNOW BAND...ANOTHER FORECASTING DILEMMA WILL BE WINDS
TOMORROW. MODELS ALREADY TOO WEAK WITH SFC LOW OVER COLORADO. PER
RUC...50+ KT WINDS ACROSS SD AND NERN ZONES WILL MAKE FOR BLIZZARD
OR NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS IN THESE AREAS. HAVE INHERITED WSW FROM
GARDEN COUNTY TO GRANT COUNTY...TO LOUP COUNTY AND NWD TO KEYA PAHA
COUNTY. WILL PROBABLY LEAVE THIS IN A WARNING AT THIS JUNCTURE AND
UPGRADE THE WATCH IN HOLT AND BOYD COUNTIES TO A WARNING. REST OF
CWA FOR NOW WILL BE PLACED IN A WWA FOR FREEZING DRIZZLE INITIALY
AND THEN LIGHT SNOW WHICH MAY BE BLOWN AROUND CONSIDERABLY BY LATE
AFTN.

TODAY AND TONIGHT...AS MENTIONED EARLIER...BULK OF CWA IS IN GOOD
ISENTROPIC LIFT TODAY. H7 FRONTOGENESIS REMAINS MASSIVE IN THE NRN
CWA AND WHEN THIS IS OVERLAID WITH THE H7 OMEGA FIELD...THE NRN
TIER OF COUNTIES REMAINS IN THE CROSSHAIRS. ETA PRECIP FIELD NEVER
HAS > THEN 0.25 WORKING S OF A LINE FROM HYANNIS TO BARTLETT AND
THIS ECHOED BY THE AVN. MAIN CONCERN IN THE AREAS WHERE SNOW IS
LIGHT...WILL BE THE WIND FACTOR. EPV AT H5 STRONGEST FROM OSHKOSH TO
ONL...INDICATING MORE SUPPORT FOR SNOW. ALSO...MID LVL DRY LAYER
COULD LEAD TO FZDZ SO WILL KEEP WINTER WW ADVISORY GOING S OF THE
WARNING. AS FOR AMOUNTS...WILL GO 1-2 FEET OVER NRN SHERIDAN AND
NWRN CHERRY COUNTY...TAPERING THIS OFF FAIRLY QUICKLY TO 1-3 IN
ALONG AND N OF A LINE FROM OSHKOSH TO STAPLETON TO BARTLETT. WILL GO
WITH FZDZ ADV THIS MORNING FOR SRN TIER OF COUNTIES...AS I EXPECT TEMPS TO
WARM ABOVE FREEZING BY LATE AM. SHOULD SEE SNOW TAPER OFF TO
FLURRIES IN THE NERN ZONES BY LATE TONIGHT...WINDS COULD CAUSE
CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW. ESPECIALLY IN THE NERN
CWA.

TOMORROW...AND TOMORROW NIGHT...H5 TROF FILLS AS IT MOVES EAST.
SHOULD SEE GOOD SUBSIDENCE TOMORROW AND WITH HIGH PRESSURE
OVHD...SHOULD SEE LIGHT WINDS. H85 TEMPS REBOUND SOMEWHAT
TOMORROW...THIS SHOULD ALLOW TEMPS TO REACH THE LOWER TO MID 40S IN
THE W AND SW...WITH 30S OVER THE FAR NW. SHOULD SEE FAIRLY CLEAR
SKIES FRIDAY NIGHT. HIGH RETREATS EAST AND WINDS SHIFT TO A SRLY
PATTERN. ALOFT...H5 TROF BEGINS TO DIG IN THE SW...A SIGN OF THINGS
TO COME LATER.

WILL MAKE ANY NEEDED UPDATES TO SATURDAY AND EXTENDED AFTER INITIAL
PACKAGE ISSUANCE.

.LBF...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY
       NEZ004>010-094-022-023
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY
       NEZ024>029-035>037
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THIS MORNING
       NEZ038-056>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

13 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Eastern Cherry

When: March 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Eastern Cherry forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.545, -101.119 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Garden

When: March 14, 11:30 AM CST
Where: Garden forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 41.619, -102.335 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hooker

When: March 14, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Hooker forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates: 41.916, -101.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Grant

When: March 14, 12:30 PM 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, Brown

When: March 14, 2:00 PM 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, Thomas

When: March 14, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Thomas forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates: 41.914, -100.556 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Keya Paha

When: March 14, 2:10 PM 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, Blaine

When: March 14, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Blaine forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.913, -99.977 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Boyd

When: March 14, 2:30 PM 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, Holt

When: March 14, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Holt forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.456, -98.784 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Rock

When: March 14, 2:30 PM 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, Sheridan

When: March 14, 3:30 PM CST
Where: Sheridan forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.505, -102.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Western Cherry

When: March 14, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Western Cherry forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates: 42.545, -101.119 (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: 5282461, 5282462, 5282465, 5282463, 5282460, 5282469, 5282466, 5282458, 5282459, 5282464, 5282467, 5282468, 5282470.