An arctic airmass brought bitter cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills of 30 below to 45 below to portions of North Central Nebraska during the overnight hours December 5th into the morning hours December 6th, 2013.
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.
An arctic airmass brought bitter cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills of 30 below to 45 below to portions of North Central Nebraska during the overnight hours December 5th into the morning hours December 6th, 2013.
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 5, 4:27 PM MST, 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 527 PM CST THU DEC 5 2013 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 341 PM CST THU DEC 5 2013 FOCUS OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS IS TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILLS. AT 20Z...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWED AMPLIFIED UPPER LEVEL FLOW WITH STRONG RIDGING ACROSS THE EASTERN PACIFIC INTO ALASKA AND A DEEP TROUGH FROM THE SOUTHWEST CONUS INTO ONTARIO. COULD SEE THE UPPER LEVEL LOW CIRCULATION CENTERED OVER WESTERN ONTARIO. SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWED THE PRIMARY SURFACE LOW OVER NORTHEAST ONTARIO WITH A STRONG COLD FRONT THAT EXTENDED ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF THE APPALACHIANS...THROUGH SOUTHERN TEXAS AND INTO NEVADA. THIS AIRMASS TOOK OVER THE MAJORITY OF THE COUNTRY WITH TWO-THIRDS OF THE COUNTRY OBSERVING TEMPERATURES BELOW THE FREEZING MARK ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON. LOCALLY...HIGHS WERE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS WHERE THE SNOW FIELD WAS PRESENT WITH LOW TEENS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. THE 12Z LBF AND UNR SOUNDINGS SHOWED 850MB TEMPERATURES OF -19C...AND FORECAST MODELS SUGGEST THE AIRMASS WON/T MODERATE MUCH THROUGH 00 SATURDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD SOUTHEAST OUT OF MONTANA TONIGHT WHICH WILL KEEP WINDS FAIRLY LIGHT IN MOST PLACES. THAT BEING SAID...TEMPERATURES WILL BE VERY COLD OVERNIGHT AS MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES WILL ALLOW FOR SOME RADIATIONAL COOLING /ESPECIALLY OVER THE SNOW FIELD/. LOOKING FOR LOWS TONIGHT TO FALL BELOW ZERO ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA...WITH -10 TO -20 DEGREE READINGS EXPECTED ROUGHLY NORTH OF A LINE FROM BRIDGEPORT TO THEDFORD TO ONEILL. ALTHOUGH WINDS WILL BE LIGHT...WITH THE TEMPERATURES AS COLD AS EXPECTED...EVEN 5 MPH WINDS WILL DROP WIND CHILLS TO DANGEROUS LEVELS. WILL ISSUE A WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA FOR TONIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING AS WIND CHILLS WILL DROP TO -20 TO -30 DEGREES IN THOSE AREAS. WON/T SEE MUCH OF A RISE IN TEMPERATURES ON FRIDAY WITH HIGHS ONLY EXPECTED IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND LOW TEENS. CURRENT FORECAST IS AT OR BELOW HIGHS THAT WERE REACHED TODAY. REASONING IS THAT WINDS WILL BE SLIGHTLY LESS THROUGH THE DAY TO PROHIBIT ANY MIXING ASSISTANCE...AND ALSO EXPECTING CLOUDS TO INCREASE SO LESS SUNSHINE TO HELP WARM THINGS UP. .LONG TERM...(FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY) ISSUED AT 341 PM CST THU DEC 5 2013 THE PRIMARY FORECAST CHALLENGES WITH THIS PERIOD INCLUDE THE SYSTEM COMING ACROSS THIS WEEKEND AND TEMPERATURES THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. WITH SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT RETURNING FRIDAY NIGHT...ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE DEVELOPS IN THE 280-290K LAYER SATURDAY MORNING. ALTHOUGH THE SLOPE OF THE ISENTROPIC SURFACES IS WEAK...THE WIND COMPONENT ALONG THE CROSS-SECTION (ABOUT IML-YKN) SHOWS A 25-35KT COMPONENT NORMAL TO THE SLOPE. THERE IS ALSO SOME FRONTOGENETIC ENHANCEMENT BY SATURDAY EVENING IN THAT LAYER AND EQUIVALENT POTENTIAL VORTICITY OF ZERO PVU TO -0.1 PVU INDICATES SYMMETRIC INSTABILITY. AVAILABLE MOISTURE IS LIMITED WITH SPECIFIC HUMIDITY OF ABOUT 1G/KG ONLY...SO PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS WILL NOT BE HIGH. HOWEVER...DESPITE THE STRONGEST UPWARD VELOCITY BEING IN THE -20C TO -25C LAYER...A DEEP ISOTHERMAL SATURATED DENDRITIC LAYER WOULD INDICATE FAIRLY EFFICIENT SNOW PRODUCTION. THEREFORE...WE WILL USE AN 18:1 SNOW TO LIQUID RATIO THOUGH IT COULD EXCEED 20:1. WITH 0.15 INCH OF PRECIPITATION OR LESS EXPECTED...THREE INCHES WOULD BE THE UPPER LIMIT FOR SNOWFALL. USING 18:1...MOST OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN NEBRASKA SHOULD SEE 0.5-2.5 INCHES OF SNOW FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON TO SUNDAY MORNING WITH THE LOWEST IN THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE AND THE HIGHEST OVER NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. THERE IS SOME UNCERTAINTY WITH THE GFS SHOWING MORE FAVORABLE UPWARD MOTION IN THE GROWTH ZONE AND A LONGER DURATION AT 9-12 HOURS. AS A RESULT...CONFIDENCE IS HIGH THAT MEASURABLE SNOWFALL WILL OCCUR IN NORTH CENTRAL THROUGH SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...BUT CONFIDENCE IS A LITTLE WEAKER WITH THE DURATION AND ACTUAL AMOUNTS. TURNING TO TEMPERATURES...ONLY MEAGER RISES ARE EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND AND THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK. AS THE UPPER TROUGH PIVOTS THROUGH NEBRASKA MONDAY NIGHT...SOME WARMER TEMPERATURES COME ONTO THE HIGH PLAINS. TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE 15-20 DEGREES HIGHER TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z FRIDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 526 PM CST THU DEC 5 2013 FOR THE KLBF TERMINAL...MID CLOUDS WILL PERSIST THIS EVENING WITH CEILINGS TO LOWER TO MVFR NEAR OVC025 AFTER 09Z. IN ADDITION...FLURRIES POSSIBLE AFER 12Z THROUGH AT LEAST 18Z. AT THE KVTN TERMINAL...VFR CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE WITH LIGHT WINDS BELOW 10KTS. && .HYDROLOGY... ISSUED AT 341 PM CST THU DEC 5 2013 ICING SIGNATURES BEING SEEN ON MOST RIVER GAGES ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND HAVE VISUALLY OBSERVED ICE BUILD-UP ON RIVERS IN THE NORTH PLATTE AREA. CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO BE FAVORABLE FOR FREEZE-UP ICE JAMMING AS THE RIVERS ARE NOT FULLY ICED OVER YET AND TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW FREEZING INTO NEXT WEEK. AS ICE FORMS ON RIVERS...AREAS WITH RESTRICTED FLOWS MAY SEE ICE BUILD UP WHICH COULD DEVELOP INTO JAMS. IF JAMMING OCCURS...FLOODING WOULD BE POSSIBLE IN AREAS ALONG THE RIVERS. AS ICE JAMMING IS QUITE ERRATIC AND CAN HAPPEN IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME...WILL BE KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON RIVER LEVELS THROUGH THE NEXT WEEK. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CST /11 AM MST/ FRIDAY FOR NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-059-094. && SHORT TERM...BROOKS LONG TERM...SPRINGER AVIATION...ROBERG HYDROLOGY...BROOKS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 401 PM CST THU DEC 5 2013 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-062215- 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- 401 PM CST THU DEC 5 2013 /301 PM MST THU DEC 5 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL FALL QUICKLY THIS EVENING OVER WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA WITH LOW TEMPERATURES FALLING BETWEEN 0 AND 20 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. ALTHOUGH WINDS WILL BE LIGHT...THEY WILL BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE WIND CHILLS TO FALL TO DANGEROUS LEVELS. LOCATIONS NORTH OF A LINE FROM OSHKOSH TO TRYON TO BRADY CAN EXPECT TO SEE WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 DEGREES BELOW ZERO TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. WIND CHILLS ARE EXPECTED TO DROP BETWEEN 20 AND 30 DEGREES BELOW ZERO FRIDAY MORNING FOR LOCATIONS NORTH OF A LINE FROM OSHKOSH TO TRYON TO BRADY. WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE INTO NEXT WEEK... WITH HIGHS REMAINING BELOW THE FREEZING MARK THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && GET YOUR WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL...AND CLIMATE INFORMATION AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NORTHPLATTE (ALL LOWERCASE) BROOKS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
An arctic airmass brought bitter cold temperatures near 25 below and dangerous wind chills of 30 below to 45 below to Sheridan County during the overnight hours December 5th into the morning hours December 6th, 2013.
An arctic airmass brought bitter cold temperatures of 15 to 25 below and dangerous wind chills of 30 below to 45 below to Western Cherry County during the overnight hours December 5th into the morning hours December 6th, 2013.
An arctic airmass brought bitter cold temperatures of 15 to 26 below and dangerous wind chills of 30 below to 45 below to Eastern Cherry County during the overnight hours December 5th into the morning hours December 6th, 2013.
An arctic airmass brought bitter cold temperatures of 20 to 25 below and dangerous wind chills of 35 below to 45 below to Keya Paha County during the overnight hours December 5th into the morning hours December 6th, 2013.
An arctic airmass brought bitter cold temperatures of 15 to 20 below and dangerous wind chills of 30 below to 35 below to Brown County during the overnight hours December 5th into the morning hours December 6th, 2013.
An arctic airmass brought bitter cold temperatures of 15 to 20 below and dangerous wind chills of 30 below to 35 below to Rock County during the overnight hours December 5th into the morning hours December 6th, 2013.
An arctic airmass brought bitter cold temperatures of 15 to 20 below and dangerous wind chills of 30 below to 35 below to Boyd County during the overnight hours December 5th into the morning hours December 6th, 2013.
An arctic airmass brought bitter cold temperatures of 10 to 20 below and dangerous wind chills of 25 below to 35 below to Holt County during the overnight hours December 5th into the morning hours December 6th, 2013.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, December 2013
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: 481940, 481941, 481942, 481943, 481944, 481945, 481946, 481947.