An intense storm system emerging from the Southern Rockies into Kansas and surface low pressure moving across Southern Kansas brought colder air into Western and North Central Nebraska. Rain changed over to snow with strong northwest of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to around 50 mph in some areas.
Every event with a place to put it; 22 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.
An intense storm system emerging from the Southern Rockies into Kansas and surface low pressure moving across Southern Kansas brought colder air into Western and North Central Nebraska. Rain changed over to snow with strong northwest of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to around 50 mph in some areas. This created blizzard conditions over much of the area. Snowfall amounts ranged as high as 11 inches with road closures in some areas.
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 Feb 23, 2:19 PM CST, 12 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 219 PM CST FRI FEB 23 2007 .SYNOPSIS... ALL INGREDIENTS FOR THE MAJOR STORM CONTINUE TO ORGANIZE THIS AFTERNOON. THE ALL IMPORTANT PACIFIC COLD FRONT WHICH WILL PRODUCE THE OCCLUDED SFC LOW IS TRACKING THRU ERN AZ. THE GULF IS OPENING WIDE ACROSS TEXAS. VERY DRY AIR IS BEGINNING TO SURGE OUT OF THE SIERRA MADRE IN OLD MEXICO AHEAD OF THE PACIFIC FRONT. ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER HUDSON BAY IS CIRCULATING MOIST MARITIME AIR WESTWARD THROUGH THE NRN PLAINS. THE BEGINNINGS OF A CANADIAN COLD FRONT IS DROPPING THRU MT. LOW PRESSURE ACROSS CNTL WY IS DEEPENING AND TRACK E-SEWD THRU THE HIGH PLAINS. THUS WE HAVE 5 AIR MASSES COLLIDING ACROSS THE CNTL PLAINS...PACIFIC SUBTROPICAL...GULF MOISTURE...MARITIME ATLANTIC MOISTURE FOR HEAVY PCPN AND STRONG DYNAMICS FOR SUPPORT. && .DISCUSSION... FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...THE NAM AND GFS HAVE COME INTO SUCH GOOD AGREEMENT THAT IT MIGHT BE FOOLISH TO SECOND GUESS THE SOLNS. THEREFORE A MODEL BLEND WAS USED FOR QPF. THE NAM WAS USED TO IDENTIFY THE LIKELY RAIN SNOW LINE AND A BLEND OF THE GUIDANCE WAS USED FOR WIND SPEED AND TEMPS. 6 HR QPF WAS LIMITED TO 0.60 INCHES BUT CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT COULD POTENTIALLY YIELD HIGHER AMOUNTS. SNOW TOTAL GRIDS PRODUCED 4 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW USING A 10 TO 1 RATIO. GUIDANCE WINDS SHOW SUSTAINED SPEEDS INCREASING TO 35 TO 45 MPH EARLY SATURDAY MORNING AND CONTINUING FOR ABOUT 12 HRS. ALL MODELS SHOW AN OCCLUDED SFC LOW TRACKING THROUGH KS AT 15 TO 18 MPH. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH HISTORICAL BLIZZARDS OF MODERATE INTENSITY. THESE LOCAL STUDIES INDICATE 20 MPH STORM MOTION PRODUCES A WEAK SHORT LIVED BLIZZARD...10 MPH PRODUCES A STRONG LONG LIVED STORM AND 5 MPH IS CATACLYSMIC. LOCAL STUDIES SUPPORT THE WIND SPEEDS USED IN THIS FCST WHICH ARE NOT EVEN NEAR THE STRONGEST EVER RECORDED. THE 850MB COLD FRONT OVER MT IS PROGGED TO DROP BE LOCATED NEAR KIML- KTIF-KANW BY 12Z. PER SWODY2 THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ALONG OR JUST AHEAD OF THE 850 MB COLD FRONT AND THUNDER SNOW IS FCST. THE CURRENT BLIZZARD WATCH WILL BE UPGRADED TO A BLIZZARD WARNING WITH THE AFTERNOON ISSUANCE AND HOLT...GARFIELD AND WHEELER COUNTIES WILL BE ADDED TO THIS WARNING. SHERIDAN...GARDEN AND BOYD COUNTIES WILL BE UPGRADED TO A WINTER STORM WARNING. LATER FCSTS MAY HAVE TO UPGRADED GARDEN COUNTY AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. THE NAM AND GFS STRONGLY SUGGEST SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO NEAR 2 INCHES PER HOUR WILL DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT ACROSS PARTS OF WESTERN AND SOUTHWEST NEB...ROUGHLY KIML-KOGA-KMHN. THIS INTENSE SNOWFALL BAND IS FCST TO SHIFT EAST SATURDAY MORNING TO NEAR KLBF-KTIF AND THEN LIFT NORTH TOWARD KBBW-KANW DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE 850 MB FRONT WILL UNDERCUT MOISTURE ALOFT DESTABILIZING THE ATM. HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO NERN ZONES IN THE AFTN WITH WINDS INCREASING TO NEAR 30 MPH WITH FREQUENT GUSTS TO 35 MPH. NAM12 PCPN TYPE ICONS SUGGEST FREEZING RAIN WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE HEAVY SNOW BAND AS THE 850MB FRONT UNDERCUTS WARM MOIST AIR ALONG IN THE THUNDERSTORM ZONE ALONG AND EAST OF A KIML-KLBF-KONL LINE. IT IS IN THIS REGION WHERE THE RISK OF POWER OUTAGES WILL BE VERY HIGH. THE COMBINATION OF FREEZING RAIN...CHANGING TO HEAVY WET SNOW WITH WINDS INCREASING TO 35 MPH OR STRONGER COULD EASILY STRAIN THE POWER GRID TO THE BREAK POINT IN RURAL AREAS. THE STORM EXITS AREA ALONG AND EAST OF HIGHWAY 83 SATURDAY NIGHT WITH LIGHT SNOW SUNDAY ACROSS THE FAR EASTERN ZONES. MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...IN THE WAKE OF THE BIG STORM THIS WEEKEND MODELS SOLNS HAVE BEEN VERY INCONSISTENT. THE FCST CONTINUES A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN OR SNOW MIDWEEK BUT THIS STORM SYSTEM APPEARS TO BE TRENDING NORTH. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS SHOULD BE IN PLACE FOR FIRST FEW HOURS OF FCST BEFORE STRONG WAA AND MOISTURE ADVECTION BEGIN TO LOWER CEILINGS AND VISBY DUE TO STRATUS AND PCPN. MVFR CONDITIONS LOOK TO SPREAD NORTHWARD OUT OF SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AROUND MIDNIGHT INTO NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS...WITH VISIBILITIES GENERALLY IN THE 3 TO 5 MI RANGE AND CEILINGS AROUND 2KFT. AS STRONGER LIFTS ARRIVE ALOFT VIA THE TROWAL WRAPPING BACK INTO SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...AND COLD AIR INFILTRATES ACROSS THE SANDHILLS...IFR TO LIFR CONDITIONS WILL COMMENCE WITH AREAS OF HEAVY SNOW AND NORTHWEST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH PRODUCING VISIBILITIES TO A 1/2 MI OR LESS AND OBSCURED CEILINGS ACROSS A MAJORITY OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...BLIZZARD WARNING MOST OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SHERIDAN...GARDEN AND BOYD COUNTIES MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. && CDC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 400 PM CST FRI FEB 23 2007 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-251200- 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- 400 PM CST FRI FEB 23 2007 /300 PM MST FRI FEB 23 2007/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A POWERFUL UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL EMERGE FROM THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES OVERNIGHT. SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP AND DEEPEN OVER EASTERN COLORADO THIS EVENING...ALLOWING GULF MOISTURE TO FLOW INTO CENTRAL NEBRASKA. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER NORTHWESTERN KANSAS AND MOVE NORTH NORTHEASTWARD INTO SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL NEBRASKA THIS EVENING INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS EAST AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM HAYES CENTER...TO ARNOLD...TO SARGENT. LARGE HAIL IS THE MAIN SEVERE THREAT. NORTH OF THIS LINE...THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH SUNRISE ON SATURDAY...BUT ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. COLD AIR WILL CONTINUE TO SEEP INTO WESTERN NEBRASKA OVERNIGHT ALLOWING THE RAIN TO CHANGE TO SNOW ACROSS AREAS MAINLY WEST OF HIGHWAY 83 THROUGH SUNRISE. NORTHERLY WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL INCREASE TOWARD MORNING AND MAY GUST AS HIGH AS 35 MPH. BLIZZARD AND WINTER STORM WARNINGS HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED ON SATURDAY AS THE STORM SYSTEM TRACKS ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS INTO THE LOWER MISSOURI VALLEY. SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR MAY BE POSSIBLE AT TIMES ON SATURDAY. IN ADDITION TO SNOW...NORTHERLY WINDS MAY GUST AS HIGH AS 50 MPH...PRODUCING CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW AND NEAR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. ROAD CLOSURES AND POWER OUTAGES WILL BE REAL POSSIBILITIES. BY SUNDAY MORNING...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE MAJORITY OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...WITH LESSER AMOUNTS EXPECTED ACROSS THE EASTERN PANHANDLE NORTH OF HIGHWAY 26. SNOW WILL TAPER OFF ON SUNDAY AS THE STORM SYSTEM LIFTS INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST. AFTER SUNDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY. ON WEDNESDAY...ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL IMPACT THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE UNITED STATES. AT THIS TIME...ACCUMULATING SNOWS ARE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING ACROSS FRONTIER...EASTERN HAYES...SOUTHEASTERN LINCOLN AND SOUTHERN CUSTER COUNTIES. && THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER... HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LBF(ALL LOWERCASE) CLB/13
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
130 AM CST SAT FEB 24 2007
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0113 AM HAIL BROKEN BOW 41.41N 99.64W
02/24/2007 E1.00 INCH CUSTER NE LAW ENFORCEMENT
&&
CBUTTLERPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
251 AM CST SAT FEB 24 2007
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0249 AM HAIL 10 E THEDFORD 41.98N 100.38W
02/24/2007 E0.50 INCH THOMAS NE LAW ENFORCEMENT
&&
CBUTTLERThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
20 blizzard, 2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This also caused the road closure of Highway 92.
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This caused considerable blowing and drifting and the road closure of highway 25. | |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. | |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 3 to 7 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. | |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. | |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 56 mph recorded by the Broken Bow ASOS. These winds combined with snowfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This caused the road closure of Highway 2.| |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 2 to 5 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This caused the road closure of Highway 83.| |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts ranging from of 3 to 9 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the afternoon hours. | |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts ranging from of 3 to 6 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the afternoon hours. | |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 52 mph recorded at the North Platte ASOS combined with snowfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This caused road closures of Interstate 80, Highways 83, 23, 25 and 30.| |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 5 to 11 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This caused considerable blowing and drifting and road closures of Highways 83 and 92.| |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This caused the road closure of Highway 25.| |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 4 to 7 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. | |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 5 to 12 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This caused considerable blowing and drifting and road closures of Highways 83 and 2.| |
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph combined with snow to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours.
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with peak gusts to 55 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This also caused the road closure of Interstate 80 and Highway 30.
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with peak gusts to 53 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This also caused the road closure of Interstate 80 and Highway 30.
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to around 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This also caused the road closures of Highways 23 and 61.
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours. This also caused the road closure of Highway 6.
Freezing rain caused ice accumulation on power lines causing several downed power poles. Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to around 50 mph followed with snowfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches to reduce visibilities to less than a quarter mile at times during the morning and afternoon hours.
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches to caused reduced visibility to a quarter mile at times during day.
Northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph combined with snowfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches to caused reduced visibility to a quarter mile at times during day.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, February 2007
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: 14759, 14766, 14768, 14770, 14771, 14773, 14774, 14775, 14776, 14781, 14782, 14783, 14784, 14785, 14758, 14760, 14761, 14762, 14763, 14764, 14779, 14780.