A fast moving clipper system brought strong northwest winds to portions of north central Nebraska. Northwest winds of 40 to 50 mph with peak wind gusts recorded around 60 mph occurred during the afternoon hours on December 30th, 2008.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 fast moving clipper system brought strong northwest winds to portions of north central Nebraska. Northwest winds of 40 to 50 mph with peak wind gusts recorded around 60 mph occurred during the afternoon hours on December 30th, 2008.
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 Dec 30, 3:34 AM CST, 8 hours 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 334 AM CST TUE DEC 30 2008 .DISCUSSION... WIND ADVISORY STILL LOOKS ON TRACK FOR TODAY. AFTER COLLABORATION WITH HASTINGS AND GOODLAND...DECIDED TO PULL THE SOUTHERN MOST COUNTIES /FRONTIER...HAYES...CHASE...AND DEUEL/ FROM THE ADVISORY. THE SUPPORT FOR WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA IN THESE AREAS IS JUST NOT THERE. ALL GUIDANCE IN THESE AREAS KEEPS SUSTAINED WIND AT 20 KTS OR LESS. DIFFERENT STORY FURTHER NORTHEAST HOWEVER...WITH LATEST 06Z NAM SHOWING 3 HOUR PRESSURE RISES OF 6 TO 8 MB BETWEEN 15 AND 18Z ACROSS BOYD AND HOLT COUNTIES...AND 850 MB WINDS AROUND 60KTS AT THAT SAME TIME. BUFKIT SOUNDINGS SHOWING ATMOSPHERE IS WELL MIXED...AND DOES INDICATE THE POTENTIAL FOR STRONGER WINDS THAN THE GUIDANCE IS SHOWING. WILL PASS THIS ALONG TO THE DAY SHIFT...AND MONITOR THE NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST PART OF THE STATE CAREFULLY. REGARDING PRECIPITATION CHANCES...LOOKING FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF FLURRIES ACROSS THE PINE RIDGE THIS MORNING...THEN SPREADING ACROSS THE NORTH CENTRAL AND INTO NORTHEAST NEBRASKA THIS AFTERNOON. MODELS NOT SHOWING ANY QPF...BUT GOOD COLD AIR ADVECTION...ALONG WITH SATURATION IN THE 850 TO 750 MB LAYER AND SOME LIFT/OMEGA WITHIN THAT MOIST LAYER...FEEL WE COULD DEFINITELY SQUEEZE OUT SOME FLURRIES. AIRMASS BEHIND THIS FRONT IS MOSTLY PACIFIC AIR...SO NOT LOOKING FOR TEMPS TO BE VERY COLD BEHIND FRONT. WINDS RAPIDLY DIMINISH TONIGHT...AND BECOME SOUTHERLY BY MORNING AS PRESSURES BEGIN TO FALL AS THE NEXT COLD FRONT STARTS TO APPROACH THE AREA. PRETTY STIFF SOUTH WIND FOR NEW YEARS EVE DAY AND NEW YEARS EVE ITSELF AHEAD OF THE FRONT. NEW YEARS EVE LOOKING MILD...AS THOSE SOUTH WINDS HELP KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE MIXED. COLD FRONT TO MOVE THROUGH NEW YEARS DAY MORNING...WITH AN ISOLATED SNOW SHOWER POSSIBLE WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. WINDS GO BACK TO THE SOUTH FRIDAY...AHEAD OF YET ANOTHER COLD FRONT TO MOVE IN ON SATURDAY. TEMPS LOOK SEASONAL...BUT A GRADUAL DOWNWARD TREND IS NOTED...WITH EACH FRONT USHERING IN A LITTLE MORE COLD AIR WITH EACH PASSAGE. && .AVIATION... NORTHWESTERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE TODAY BEHIND AN EXITING CLIPPER SYSTEM. SOME SCATTERED MVFR CLOUDINESS IS POSSIBLE AT THE KVTN TERMINAL...PARTICULARLY BETWEEN 21Z AND 03Z THIS EVENING. WITH RESPECT TO WIND SPEEDS...STRONGER WINDS ARE EXPECTED AT THE KVTN TERMINAL...WHERE WINDS MAY GUST TO 40 KTS LATE THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON. WIND SPEEDS MAY GUST TO 35 KTS AT THE KLBF TERMINAL. LOOK FOR WINDS TO DIMINISH THIS EVENING. SKIES WILL CLEAR OVERNIGHT WITH UNLIMITED CEILINGS FORECAST. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM CST TO 6 PM CST FOR ALL ZONES EXCEPT NEZ056-058-069>071. && DISCUSSION...TAYLOR AVIATION...BUTTLER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 430 AM CST TUE DEC 30 2008 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-311130- 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- 430 AM CST TUE DEC 30 2008 /330 AM MST TUE DEC 30 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A FAST MOVING CLIPPER SYSTEM WILL USHER IN STRONG NORTHWESTERLY WINDS ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA TODAY. BY AFTERNOON...SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH...WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH ARE LIKELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM EUSTIS...TO GRANT AND BIG SPRINGS. OVER NORTHEASTERN AREAS...INCLUDING BOYD...HOLT...GARFIELD AND WHEELER COUNTIES...WINDS MAY GUST UP TO 50 MPH IN OPEN AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER... HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATOLOGICAL INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NORTHPLATTE CLB
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sustained winds of 40 mph or greater occurred during the afternoon. A peak wind gust of 61 mph occurred at the Valentine ASOS site in eastern Cherry County at 120 pm CST with another peak wind gust of 60 mph at 229 pm CST.
Sustained winds of 40 mph or greater occurred during the afternoon. A peak wind gust of 61 mph occurred at the Ainsworth AWOS site in Brown County at 150 pm CST.
Sustained winds of 40 mph or greater occurred during the afternoon. A peak wind gust of 61 mph occurred nearby at the Valentine ASOS site in northeast Cherry County at 120 pm CST with another peak wind gust of 60 mph at 229 pm CST.
Sustained winds of 40 mph or greater occurred during the afternoon. Peak wind gusts of 58 mph were estimated across western Cherry County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, December 2008
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: 140028, 140029, 140031, 140030.