Strong northwest winds developed behind a cold front on November 14th. Numerous locations in western Nebraska reported sustained winds of 40 mph with gusts as high as 64 mph.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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.
Strong northwest winds developed behind a cold front on November 14th. Numerous locations in western Nebraska reported sustained winds of 40 mph with gusts as high as 64 mph.
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 14, 1:42 AM MST, 8 hours 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 242 AM CST FRI NOV 14 2008 .SYNOPSIS... A POTENT S/W TROUGH /CHARACTERIZED BY 150+ KT JET AT H25...AND -30 DEG C AIR AT H5/ WAS ENTERING WY AT 00Z/FRI...AND IS POISED TO MOVE ACROSS THE PLAINS DURING THE NEXT 24 HRS. THIS WILL USHER IN COLDER TEMPERATURES AND VERY WINDY CONDITIONS ON FRIDAY. THE OTHER FEATURE OF INTEREST THIS EVENING IS AN AREA OF MID LVL FRONTOGENESIS...SAGGING SOUTH FROM THE PANHANDLE AND SOUTHWESTERN NEBRASKA...INTO NORTHEAST COLORADO AND NORTHWEST KANSAS. VERY LIGHT MIXED PRECIP IS OCCURRING WITH THIS AREA OF MESOSCALE LIFT. OTHER ECHOS ARE SHOWING UP OVER SOUTH DAKOTA AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...ASSOCIATED WITH LOW/MID LVL CAA REGIME. THAT ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE MOVING SOUTH ACROSS THE CWA THIS MORNING. && .DISCUSSION... EVENING UPR AIR ANALYSIS SUGGESTS THE PRESENCE OF A POSITIVE PV ANOMALY /I.E. WARM POCKET OF H25 TEMPERATURES/ LOCATED OVER MONTANA AT 00Z/FRI. SHORT TERM MODEL GUIDANCE BRINGS THIS FEATURE INTO THE CWA BY 12Z...AND WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY COLD LOW LVL AIR...RESULTING IN STEEPENING LOW LVL LAPSE RATES FROM NORTH TO SOUTH DURING THE MORNING. FLOW AT THE TOP OF THE WELL MIXED PBL OVER OUR WESTERN TIER OF COUNTIES APPROACHES 50 KT...DECREASING TO AROUND 40 KT OVER THE EASTER HALF OF THE CWA. THIS WILL PROMOTE SUSTAINED WINDS OF 35 KT AND GUSTS APPROACHING 50-60 KT OVER FAR WESTERN NEB/EASTERN PANHANDLE...WHERE A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT BEGINNING AT 12Z FRIDAY. OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE CWA...WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA SHOULD EASILY BE MET. INCREASING LOW LVL RH COMBINED WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES ARE STILL EXPECTED TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHALLOW CONVECTIVE RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON...TRANSITIONING TO SNOW SHOWERS BY LATE AFTERNOON AS COLDER AIR CONTINUES TO MOVE SOUTH INTO THE REGION. THE POSSIBILITY FOR SNOW SHOWERS WILL THEN CONTINUE OVER NORTH CENTRAL/NORTHEAST NEBRASKA THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. SOUTH AND WEST OF THOSE AREAS...LOW LVL CLOUDINESS IS FCST TO SLOWLY ERODE WHILE WINDS DECREASE IN MAGNITUDE. THIS WILL FOCUS COLDEST OVERNIGHT LOWS /UPR TEENS TO LOW 20S/. ON SATURDAY...HIGH PRESSURE IS FCST TO MOVE EAST ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS...RESULTING IN A SLIGHT MODERATION IN TEMPERATURES. A WEAK SFC TROUGH THEN MOVES SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE REGION SATURDAY NIGHT. LOW LVL WESTERLY FLOW BEHIND THE TROUGH SHOULD KEEP LOW TEMPERATURES NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL. TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON CONTINUE TO MODERATE WITHIN WEST/NORTHWESTERLY SFC FLOW REGIME...WITH UPR 50S OVER THE SOUTHWEST AND LOW/MID 50S OVER THE NORTHEAST. BEYOND SUNDAY...A SERIES OF PROGRESSIVE S/W TROUGHS MOVES EAST/SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE COUNTRY /WITH PREDICTABILITY BECOMING INCREASINGLY LOW PER GFS ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE/. THE NEXT SIGNIFICANT DISTURBANCE /AND SFC FRONT/ TO AFFECT WESTERN/NORTH CENTRAL NEB WILL BE DURING TUESDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER...STRONGEST LARGE SCALE ASCENT REMAINS NORTH OF THE AREA...AND FRONTAL FORCING DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE SUFFICIENT TO GENERATE PRECIP. THUS...FORECAST REMAINS DRY THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION... STRONG SURFACE WINDS...FOLLOWED BY AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT AND LOW CEILINGS ARE THE MAIN AVIATION FORECASTING CONCERNS OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. FOR THE KVTN AND KLBF TERMINALS...SUSTAINED NORTHWESTERLY WINDS OF 35 KTS...WITH PERIODIC GUSTS TO 45 KTS ARE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON...DIMINISHING TO UNDER 20 KTS AFTER SUNSET. WIND SPEEDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE HIGHER FURTHER WEST OF THE KLBF AND KVTN TERMINALS ACROSS THE EASTERN PANHANDLE...WHERE SOME SURFACE WIND GUSTS MAY APPROACH 50 KTS TDY. LATER TONIGHT...AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL MOVE WEST...BACKING INTO EASTERN AND CENTRAL NEBRASKA. MVFR CEILINGS WILL BE PRESENT EAST OF THIS FEATURE ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN NEBRASKA. BASED ON THE LATEST NAM...GFS AND NUMERICAL GUIDANCE...BETTER CHANCES EXIST FOR MVFR CEILINGS TO DEVELOP AT THE KVTN TERMINAL VS. THE KLBF TERMINAL. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WIND ADVISORY FROM 6 AM CST /5 AM MST/ THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ THIS AFTERNOON FOR NEZ005>010-024>029-036>038-058-059- 069>071. HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 5 AM EARLY THIS MORNING TO 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON FOR NEZ004-022-023-035-056-057-094. && GARNER/CLB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 425 AM CST FRI NOV 14 2008 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-151130- 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- 425 AM CST FRI NOV 14 2008 /325 AM MST FRI NOV 14 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. STRONG NORTHWESTERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP BEHIND AN EXITING COLD FRONT TODAY. ACROSS THE EASTERN PANHANDLE...KEITH...ARTHUR...GRANT AND WESTERN CHERRY COUNTY...A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT. IN THESE AREAS...SUSTAINED WINDS OF 35 TO 45 MPH...WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH IN OPEN AREAS ARE LIKELY. ELSEWHERE...A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH...WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO QUICKLY DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. 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.
7 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sustained winds of 40 mph occurred across Arthur County through much of the afternoon.
Sustained winds of 40 mph occurred across Grant County through much of the afternoon.
Sustained winds of 40 mph with higher gusts occurred across Deuel County. A peak gust of 57 mph was recorded at a Union Pacific Railroad mesonet site at Big Springs at 1230 pm CST.
Sustained winds of 41 mph with gusts to 55 mph occurred across Keith County. The peak gust recorded at the Ogallala airport was 55 mph at 1130 am CST.
Sustained winds of 40 mph with higher gusts were common across Garden County. The peak wind gust of 55 mph was recorded on a Nebraska Department of Roads mesonet site at Lisco at 206 pm CST.
Sustained winds around 40 mph with higher gusts were common across Sheridan County. The peak gust of 64 mph at 404 pm CST was recorded at the Nebraska Department of Roads mesonet site at the Sheridan and Cherry County line.
Sustained winds around 40 mph with higher gusts were common across western Cherry County. The peak gust was 64 mph at 404 pm CST at the Nebraska Department of Roads mesonet site at the Cherry and Sheridan County line.
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, November 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: 135146, 135147, 135148, 135150, 135152, 135154, 135156.