A very strong low pressure system moved out of Colorado the Sunday after Thanksgiving and intensified as it moved northeast across the Western and Northern Plains hampering travel on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. Snow developed over the area Sunday morning with snow accumulations of a trace to 3 inches before tapering off Monday.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS LBF wrote it up.
A very strong low pressure system moved out of Colorado the Sunday after Thanksgiving and intensified as it moved northeast across the Western and Northern Plains hampering travel on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. Snow developed over the area Sunday morning with snow accumulations of a trace to 3 inches before tapering off Monday. Northwest winds increased significantly Sunday night and continued through Monday afternoon. Damage due to the wind included trees falling on homes and power lines, numerous power lines and poles down, and highway signs destroyed. In Perkins County, the rural electric association reported 150 poles down along with 10 "H" type transmission structures destroyed in the Grainton area.Further east of this area, snow accumulations of 3 to 15 inches combined with the 55 to 75 mph winds to cause blizzard conditions in near zero visibility from Sunday night, November 27th through Monday night, November 28th. Interstate 80 and most secondary roads in the area were closed for 30 to 38 hours. Many travelers were stranded in their vehicles for 12 hours or more after getting stuck in deep snow. Thousands of other travelers spent time in temporary shelters waiting out the storm.
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 Nov 27, 2:11 PM MST, 9 hours 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 311 PM CST SUN NOV 27 2005 .DISCUSSION... LOTS TO LOOK AT TODAY WITH RESPECT TO THE IMPENDING STORM. PRECIP PROCESSES GOT GOING QUICKLY AFTER 14Z AND HAS CONTINUED TO EXPAND. PRECIP TYPE HAS BEEN TOUGH TO CALL IN SPOTS THIS MORNING. AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 2 HAVE BEEN REPORTING A MIX OF ZR AND IP. SEVERAL ROADWAYS HAVE GOTTEN ICY...THEREFORE ISSUED THE WINTER WX ADV EARLIER. FURTHER S OF HIGHWAY 2...LBF HAS HAD MAINLY JUST SNOW AND IS ALREADY STICKING TO THE SURFACES...ABOUT 1.9 INCH...WET AND SLUSHY. KLNX 88D LOOP SHOWS A NICE SHEAR AXIS ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND THE RADAR IS PICKING UP ON BRIGHT BAND IN THE SAME AREA. DESPITE THAT...STILL SOME GOOD PRECIP COMING DOWN THERE. 88D SHOWS NWWD PUSH AT AROUND 4KFT AGL. DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE IN VWP PRODUCT BETWEEN KLNX AND KUEX. GOOD CELLULAR NATURE TO THE ECHOES S OF THE SHEAR AXIS INDICATING CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL WHICH IS CORROBORATED BY LIGHTNING DATA. SHOULD ONLY GET WORSE FROM HIGHWAY 83 EWD TONIGHT. MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT IN MAX PRECIP AXIS EXPECTED THROUGH 00Z TUE. USING THE NAM FOR DETAILS ABOVE THE SFC...GOOD ISENTROPIC LIFT THROUGH A DEEP LAYER. CROSS SECTION ANALYSIS HAS GOOD SLOPED FRONTOGENESIS WITH STRONG LIFT IMPLIED BY AGEOS VERT CIRC. THIS LIFT OCCURS THROUGH THE -12 TO -17 LAYER AS WELL MAKING BEST USE OF LARGE MOISTURE CONTENT AVAILABLE. TROWAL AXIS INDICATED BY ALL MODELS AS IMPLIED BY THE DEEP ISENTROPIC LIFT SO PREVIOUS FCST OF BLIZZARD WARNING LOOKS GOOD. QUESTION BECOMES WHAT TO DO WITH THE BLIZZARD WATCH AREA. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT LIFT...MOISTURE CONTENT AND POSSIBLE INSTABILITY WILL BE PRESENT IN WATCH AREA AS WELL...BUT TO WHAT DEGREE AND FOR HOW LONG. BUFKIT SOUNDINGS SHOW AFTER INITIAL COOLING OF THE COLLUMN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... THE TEMPERATURE PROFILE DOES NOT CHANGE MUCH THROUGH TOMORROW. THIS WOULD SUGGEST A GOOD POTENTIAL FOR EFFICIENT SNOW MAKING SHOULD THE LIFT CONTINUE. THAT LIFT SHOULD BE AT ITS BEST THROUGH MIDNIGHT BEFORE SHIFTING EWD IN THE MORNING. HOWEVER...THERE SHOULD STILL BE SNOWFALL OCCURRING. BUFKIT SOUNDINGS SHOW MAX GUST POTENTIAL EXCEEDING 50 KTS THROUGH THE MORNING...AND IF MOMENTUM IS MIXED SURFACEWARD THROUGH 800 MB AS SUGGESTED...GUSTS COULD EXCEED 60 KTS...BUT I THINK THAT MAY BE TOO DEEP OF A LAYER. WITH MANY FACTORS TO CONSIDER INCLUDING THOSE NOT METEOROLOGICAL...WILL OPT FOR EXPANDING BLIZZARD WARNING INTO THE WATCH COUNTIES AS WELL THROUGH 6 PM CST...EXCEPT WRN CHERRY. WINTER WX ADVISORY WILL BE INCLUDED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE CWA TO ACCOUNT FOR WINDS AND OCCASIONAL SNOWFALL. WILL HAVE TO WATCH FOR WINDS REACHING WARNING CRITERIA THOUGH. FOR THE EXTENDED...SOME UNCERTAINTY ABOUT AMPLITUDE TO THE PATTERN THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. TEMPS GENERALLY BELOW GUIDANCE DUE TO LIKELY SNOW COVER...ESPECIALLY IN THE EAST. A FLATTER PATTERN WOULD SUGGEST TIMING ISSUES IN THE LATTER TERM AND WITH NO REAL POTENCY TO THE SYSTEMS...HAVE GENERALLY GONE SLIGHT OR LOWER POPS. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... BLIZZARD WARNING THIS EVENING THROUGH 6 PM CST MONDAY FOR NEZ024-NEZ025-NEZ036-NEZ037-NEZ059-NEZ070-NEZ071. BLIZZARD WARNING FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM CST MONDAY FOR NEZ005-NEZ006-NEZ007-NEZ008-NEZ009-NEZ010-NEZ026-NEZ027-NEZ028- NEZ029-NEZ038. WINTER WX ADVISORY 5 PM MST TONIGHT TO 5 PM MST MONDAY NEZ004-NEZ022 NEZ023-NEZ035-NEZ056>NEZ058-NEZ069-NEZ094. && JWS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 332 PM CST SUN NOV 27 2005 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-281030- SHERIDAN-EASTERN CHERRY-KEYA PAHA-BOYD-BROWN-ROCK-HOLT-GARDEN- GRANT-HOOKER-THOMAS-BLAINE-LOUP-GARFIELD-WHEELER-ARTHUR-MCPHERSON- LOGAN-CUSTER-DEUEL-KEITH-PERKINS-LINCOLN-CHASE-HAYES-FRONTIER- WESTERN CHERRY- 332 PM CST SUN NOV 27 2005 /232 PM MST SUN NOV 27 2005/ ...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. CAUTION SHOULD BE USED IF TRAVELING ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA TONIGHT. A MIXTURE OF PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE TO ALL SNOW THIS EVENING...THEN SNOW TO ACCUMULATE OVERNIGHT INTO MONDAY. AREAS EAST OF A LINE FROM MERRIMAN IN CHERRY COUNTY TO HAYES CENTER IN HAYES COUNTY WILL SEE THE GREATEST SNOWFALL AS THE STORM SYSTEM LIFTS NORTHEAST. AS THE SNOW FALLS WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN...WITH NORTHWEST WINDS AT 30 TO 40 MPH OVERNIGHT TO CREATE CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF THE SNOW COVER. MOTORIST SHOULD ANTICIPATE THE SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW TO REDUCE VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN A MILE AS THE SNOW FALLS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THE STRONG WINDS AND SNOWFALL WILL CONTINUE INTO MONDAY. STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM AROUND 3 INCHES IN THE FAR WEST...TO NEAR A FOOT IN PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA... INCLUDING PORTIONS OF NORTHERN HOLT AND BOYD COUNTIES. THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST MONDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE OVER THE NORTH AND NORTH CENTRAL UNTIL EVENING AS THE SYSTEM EXITS NORTHEAST. STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH COLDER TEMPERATURES TO PUSH WIND CHILL VALUES TO NEAR ZERO ON MONDAY. THEN MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY THE SNOW COVER WILL IMPACT TEMPERATURES. HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE NOT EXPECTED OUT OF THE 30S...WHILE OVERNIGHT LOWS FALL INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. HOWEVER...COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS ARE ASKED TO CALL THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN NORTH PLATTE WITH SNOW AMOUNTS THROUGH THE EVENT. && THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER... HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATOLOGICAL INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NORTHPLATTE (ALL LOWERCASE) KECK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, November 2005
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: 5480492, 5480487, 5480485, 5480486, 5480488, 5480489, 5480490, 5480491, 5480493, 5480494, 5480495, 5480496.