Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 19 to 20, 2006

Name: Winter Storm in Nebraska, March 19 to 20, 2006
Start: 2006-03-19T08:00
End: 2006-03-20T22:00
Location: Nebraska

March 19 to 20, 2006 · NWS LBF · 26 events in 26 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 26 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: 26

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 deep upper level low pressure system moved out of the desert southwest and then pushed slowly across Nebraska. Freezing drizzle developed across much of western and north central Nebraska on March 18th before turning to snow. Frontier and Hayes Counties reported 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice accumulation before the onset of snow. As the upper low emerged onto the Central Plains, moderate to heavy snow and wind gusts to 25-30 mph developed creating hazardous conditions. Highways and portions of Interstate 80 were closed for 12-24 hours. Total snowfall accumulations of 20-25 inches occurred across much of Holt, Rock, Brown, Blaine, Loup, Thomas, and Logan Counties. Accumulations of 10-20 inches occurred across much of Sheridan, Cherry, Hooker, Keya Paha, Boyd, Garfield, Wheeler, and Custer Counties. The accumulations tapered off to the southwest where 5-9 inches were common. The highest snow accumulation was recorded at Chambers in southern Holt County where 29 inches of snow accumulated. Only minor traffic accidents were reported with the storm. However, ranchers across western and north central Nebraska reported that more than one dozen newly born calves died during the storm.

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 19, 3:13 AM CST, 4 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 19, 3:13 AM CST, 4 hours 47 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
313 AM CST SUN MAR 19 2006

.DISCUSSION...
H2O AND RADAR IMAGERY SHOWING LOTS OF INTERESTING THINGS EARLY THIS
MORNING AND AGAIN LEADING TO FORECAST CHALLENGE OF PCPN
TYPE...INTENSITY AND DURATION FOR TODAY AS STRONG WAA AND DRY LAYER
ALOFT IS KEEPING MIXED PCPN FROM EASTERN COLORADO INTO PORTIONS OF
SW NEB...MUCH LONGER THAN ANTICIPATED. LOOKING AT ISENTROPIC AND
MODEL SOUNDINGS FEELS THIS MAY BE IN PLACE THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY
AGAIN. STRONG ISENTROPIC LIFT THROUGH FROM SFC TO DENDRITIC LAYER
SHOWING UP SIMILAR TO RADAR MOSIAC AT 8Z FROM EASTERN KS INTO BLACK
HILLS...WITH MOISTURE TRANS VECT ALONG THIS FETCH AS WELL. WIDE
SPREAD CONVECTION FROM TX TO ALA STILL OF SOME CONCERN AS WELL.
HOWEVER ON 300K SFC DRY SLOT FROM NE NEW MEXICO TO SOUTHERN NEB
SHOWING UP IN MODELS AS WELL AND LOOKS TO PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST
EARLY AFTERNOON. SO CHANCE POPS IN SOUTH WITH MIX...SNOW HEAVY AT
TIMES NORTH WHERE ISENTRIPICE UPGLIDE WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH FRONTO
BAND AND ELEVATED INSTABILITY. LOOKS LIKE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL BE FROM
CUSTER TO HYANNIS AND NORTH THROUGH MORNING WITH FRONTO BAND
TIGHTENING IN THE WEST THIS AFTERNOON WITH LF OF JET MOVING
NORTHWARD AND MID LEVEL WAVE APPROACHING. UPPER LOW EJECTS TONIGHT
AND STRONGER DYNAMIC FOCUS FROM EC COLORADO INTO EASTERN NEBRASKA SO
EXPECT HEAVIEST SNOW TO MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN CWA THROUGH THE
DAYLIGHT HOURS MONDAY WHICH WILL BE IN THE NORTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE
DEFORMATION ZONE WITH THE TROWAL RUNNING ACROSS FAR SOUTHERN CWA.
LOOKS LIKE HIGHEST STORM TOTAL WILL RUN NEAR VTN TO BBW LINE WHERE
TOTALS COULD BE IN THE 12 TO 18 INCH RANGE. SYSTEM LOOKS TO LIFT OUT
BY SUNRISE TUESDAY AND LOOKS TO BE FAIRLY PROGRESSIVE AFTER THIS AS
NEXT SYSTEM IS MOVING IN FOR NEXT SHOT OF SNOW WED/WED NITE. LOWERED
TEMPS IN EXTENDED AS SNOW COVER AND CLOUD COVER AHEAD OF NEXT SYSTEM
WILL LEAVE LITTLE TIME FOR WARMING.
&&

.LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER STORM WARNING SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING...ALL OF
WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

&&

13

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 18, 3:17 PM CST, 16 hours 43 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
317 PM CST SAT MAR 18 2006

NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-190730-
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-
317 PM CST SAT MAR 18 2006 /217 PM MST SAT MAR 18 2006/

...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND
NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

A MIXTURE OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE SEEN THIS EVENING...WITH
A CHANCE FOR DRIZZLE AND FREEZING RAIN ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST...AND
SLEET OR SNOW ACROSS THE NORTH. THE MIXTURE WILL TRANSITION OVER
TO ALL SNOW BETWEEN 9 PM CST AND MIDNIGHT AS PIECES OF ENERGY LIFT NORTH.
THE ENERGY EJECTING NORTHWARD OVERNIGHT WILL BRING ENHANCED
SNOWFALL RATES THAT WILL FAVOR ACCUMULATION TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY.
OVERNIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES ACROSS
THE SOUTH...IN AREAS SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 2...AND 3 TO 6 INCHES
NORTHWARD.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

THE WINTER STORM SYSTEM WILL EVOLVE OUT ONTO THE PLAINS SUNDAY
WITH TRAVEL CONDITIONS TO FURTHER DETEORIATE OVERNIGHT INTO
MONDAY. A SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED AS PERIODS
OF SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL GENERATE STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL
AMOUNTS FROM 8 TO 15 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE.
THE STORM SYSTEM HAS SLOWED WITH THE MOISTURE SURGING NORTH TO
MAINTAIN FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR CONTINUED SNOWFALL UNTIL LATE
MONDAY WHEN THE STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE EAST OF THE PLAINS.

BY MIDWEEK ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE PLAINS THAT
WILL FURTHER ADD TO SNOW TOTALS. ARCTIC AIR SURGING SOUTHWARD WILL
LIMIT SNOWMELT EARLY AS TEMPERATURES SLOWLY CLIMB TO ABOVE THE
FREEZING MARK TUESDAY AND REMAIN BELOW NORMAL THROUGH NEXT FRIDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER REPORTS OF SNOWFALL RELAYED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE BEGINNING TONIGHT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

&&

THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...
HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATOLOGICAL INFORMATION...AT
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NORTHPLATTE (ALL LOWERCASE)

KECK

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

26 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Eastern Cherry

When: March 19, 8:00 AM CST to March 20, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Eastern Cherry forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 42.545, -101.119 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Western Cherry

When: March 19, 8:00 AM CST to March 20, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Western Cherry forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 42.545, -101.119 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sheridan

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Sheridan forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 42.505, -102.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Blaine

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Blaine forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.913, -99.977 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Boyd

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Boyd forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 42.900, -98.766 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Brown

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Brown forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 42.430, -99.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Garfield

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Garfield forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.914, -98.991 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Holt

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Holt forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 42.456, -98.784 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Keya Paha

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Keya Paha forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 42.879, -99.712 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Logan

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Logan forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.567, -100.483 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Loup

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Loup forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.914, -99.454 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Rock

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Rock forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 42.421, -99.450 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Thomas

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Thomas forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.914, -100.556 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wheeler

When: March 19, 11:00 AM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Wheeler forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.915, -98.528 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hayes

When: March 19, 3:00 PM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Hayes forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 40.525, -101.062 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Frontier

When: March 19, 3:00 PM CST to March 20, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Frontier forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 40.530, -100.394 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Hooker

When: March 20, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Hooker forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.916, -101.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Custer

When: March 20, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Custer forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.394, -99.726 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lincoln

When: March 20, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.048, -100.745 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, McPherson

When: March 20, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: McPherson forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.568, -101.060 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Grant

When: March 20, 2:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Grant forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.915, -101.740 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Deuel

When: March 20, 2:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Deuel forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.112, -102.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Perkins

When: March 20, 2:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Perkins forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 40.851, -101.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Arthur

When: March 20, 2:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Arthur forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.569, -101.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Chase

When: March 20, 2:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Chase forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 40.524, -101.698 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Garden

When: March 20, 2:00 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Garden forecast zone
Reported by: COOP STATION
Coordinates: 41.619, -102.335 (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 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, March 2006

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: 5495658, 5495659, 5495660, 5495661, 5495662, 5495663, 5495664, 5495666, 5495667, 5495668, 5495669, 5495670, 5495671, 5495672, 5495679, 5495680, 5495675, 5495676, 5495677, 5495678, 5495665, 5495673, 5495674, 5495681, 5495682, 5495683.