A strong low pressure system moved across the Central Plains on December 8th and 9th, 2009. Moderate to heavy snow accompanied this weather system from southwest Nebraska into eastern portions of north central Nebraska.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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 strong low pressure system moved across the Central Plains on December 8th and 9th, 2009. Moderate to heavy snow accompanied this weather system from southwest Nebraska into eastern portions of north central Nebraska. Snow began to fall Monday evening, December 7th, and continued into the early morning hours of Wednesday, December 9th. Storm total snowfall amounts ranged from 5 to 10 inches with the heaviest amounts across Custer County.
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 7, 3:32 PM CST, 4 hours 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 332 PM CST MON DEC 7 2009 .SYNOPSIS... STORM CONTINUES TO ORGANIZE OVER CALIFORNIA LATE THIS AFTERNOON. WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND WATCHES FROM CALIFORNIA TO THE GREAT LAKES. && .DISCUSSION... NEAR TERM MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND HAVE USED A BLEND FOR THE FORECAST. FIRST ROUND OF SNOW WILL BEGIN THIS EVENING AS WAA PRECIPITATION BEGINS WITH WEAK UPGLIDE. HAVE BEGUN WINTERSTORM WARNING TONIGHT 6Z WITH INITIAL SURGE OF ENERGY BETWEEN 6Z AND 12Z. QVECTORS AND 700MB FRONTOGENETIC FORCING REALLY RAMPS UP OVER SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA TUESDAY MORNING. FAVORED AREA SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA GENERALLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80. LBF BUFR SOUNDING BASED ON GFS HAS 1O MICROBARS OF DEEP LIFT TO 400MB AT 12Z WITH LARGE DENDRITIC LAYER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST 00Z. WINDS TO PICKUP IN THE AFTERNOON TO CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. POSSIBLY EVEN SOME NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. HAVE GONE WITH 15:1 RATIO. WITH WIDESPERAD LIGHT SNOW COLD TEMPERATURES AND WINDS HAVE INCLUDED WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA IN WINTER ADVY. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ALONG THE SD BORDER 3 INCHES TO 6 INCHES DOWN ALONG THE INTERSTATE 80 CORRIDOR. SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80 6 TO 8 INCHES WITH SOME HIGHER AMOUNTS ESPECIALLY OVER FRONTIER COUNTY. SNOW SHOULD TAPER OFF OVER NORTHWESTERN NEBRASKA THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND AS WINDS COME UP AND TEMPERATURES DROP THROUGH THE EVENING WIND CHILLS WILL BECOME A CONCERN. HAVE CONTINUED ADVISORIES AND WARNINGS THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY. WITH NEW FRESH SNOW AND SOME PARTIAL CLEARING TO THE WEST ON WEDNESDAY MORNING TEMPERATURES SHOULD FALL TO THE COLDEST THIS SEASON. HAVE CRANKED THEM DOWN AT LEAST A CATEGORY BELOW COLDEST GUIDANCE. MAY HAVE TO BE LOWERED. HAVE CONTINUED TREND INTO THE EXTENDED FORECAST AS ZONAL PATTERN SETS UP. DEPENDING ON SNOW COVER WARMING TREND ADVERTISED BY GUIDANCE THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF THE WEEK MAY HAVE TO BE TRENDED DOWNWARD. && .AVIATION... CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DETERIORATE ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEB BY AROUND 06Z WEDNESDAY...AS A STORM SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE AREA. CEILINGS AND VSBY WILL LOWER INTO THE MVFR RANGE. LOCAL IFR WILL DEVELOP ACROSS SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AFTER 10Z. EAST TO NORTHEAST WINDS OF 5 TO 15 KTS CAN BE EXPECTED. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT CST /11 PM MST/ TONIGHT TO 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ TUESDAY FOR NEZ004-005-022>025-035>037- 056>058-094. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM MIDNIGHT CST /11 PM MST/ TONIGHT TO 6 AM CST /5 AM MST/ WEDNESDAY FOR NEZ038-059-069>071. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 AM TUESDAY TO 6 AM CST WEDNESDAY FOR NEZ006>010-026>029. && SHORT TERM/EXTENDED...POWER AVIATION...TAYLOR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 458 PM CST MON DEC 7 2009 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-082300- 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- 458 PM CST MON DEC 7 2009 /358 PM MST MON DEC 7 2009/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. A POWERFUL WINTER STORM WILL EMERGE ONTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS LATE TONIGHT...WITH LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW DEVELOPING TOWARD MORNING ACROSS MOST OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BEGIN TO INTENSIFY TUESDAY MORNING ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO...AND THEN TRACK EAST ACROSS KANSAS DURING THE DAY. PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN NEBRASKA TO THE NORTH OF THE LOW PRESSURE TRACK. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 8 INCHES ARE LIKELY ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM ANSELMO...TO NORTH PLATTE...TO IMPERIAL...WITH 3 TO 6 INCHES EXPECTED NORTH AND WEST OF THIS LINE. NORTH WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WILL DEVELOP TUESDAY AFTERNOON...AND CONTINUE INTO TUESDAY NIGHT...CAUSING AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ARE ALSO EXPECTED TUESDAY NIGHT. WEATHER CONDITIONS SHOULD BEGIN TO RAPIDLY IMPROVE BY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING AS THE STORM SYSTEM MOVES OFF TO THE EAST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED TUESDAY FOR REPORTS OR SNOWFALL RATES OF ONE INCH PER HOUR OR GREATER...ALSO FOR SNOWFALL AMOUNTS THROUGHOUT THE EVENT AND VISIBILITY REPORTS OF 1/4 MILE OR LESS. && THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER... HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATOLOGICAL INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NORTHPLATTE TAYLOR
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall reports from a Cooperative observer and the public ranged from 4 to 7 inches. North winds of 15 to 30 mph caused some blowing and drifting with reduced visibility below a mile at times.
Snowfall reports from a Cooperative observer and the public ranged from 5 to 8 inches. North winds of 15 to 30 mph caused some blowing and drifting with reduced visibility below a mile at times.
Snowfall reports from Cooperative observers and the public ranged from 5 to 8 inches. North winds of 15 to 30 mph caused some blowing and drifting with reduced visibility below a half mile at times.
Snowfall reports from Cooperative observers and the public ranged from 5 to 10 inches. North winds of 15 to 30 mph caused considerable blowing and drifting with reduced visibility as low as a quarter mile at times.
Snowfall reports from Cooperative observers and the public ranged from 6 to 7 inches. North winds of 15 to 30 mph caused considerable blowing and drifting with reduced visibility as low as a quarter mile at times.
Snowfall reports from Cooperative observers and the public ranged from 5 to 7 inches. North winds of 15 to 30 mph caused considerable blowing and drifting with reduced visibility as low as a quarter mile at times.
Snowfall reports from Cooperative observers and the public ranged from 5 to 7 inches. North winds of 15 to 30 mph caused considerable blowing and drifting with reduced visibility as low as a quarter mile at times.
Snowfall reports from Cooperative observers and the public ranged from 5 to 7 inches. North winds of 15 to 30 mph caused considerable blowing and drifting with reduced visibility as low as a quarter mile at times.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, December 2009
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: 199504, 199505, 199506, 199507, 199508, 199509, 199512, 199513.