The drought that began in June 2012 and expanded to become an Exceptional (D4) Drought in October 2012 continues into February 2013. While the weather in February became more active, with two major snowfall events, only minor relief or recharge to the depleted soil moisture occurred.
Every event with a place to put it; 27 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.
The drought that began in June 2012 and expanded to become an Exceptional (D4) Drought in October 2012 continues into February 2013. While the weather in February became more active, with two major snowfall events, only minor relief or recharge to the depleted soil moisture occurred. Long-term impacts to hydrological and ecological interests are expected to linger. In February, areas of significant snowfall did occur with monthly precipitations departures ranging from around a half inch above normal at North Platte and Valentine to near normal at Broken Bow and Imperial. This helped to keep fire dangers and long term impacts from worsening.
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 Jan 31, 11:21 PM CST, 39 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 1121 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013 .AVIATION... CLOUDS WILL COVER WESTERN NEBRASKA OVERNIGHT AOA 8KFT. WINDS WILL CONTINUE LIGHT AND VARIABLE OVERNIGHT BEFORE INCREASING OUT OF THE WEST NORTHWEST AT 5 TO 15KTS AROUND 01/18Z. A CLIPPER SYSTEM WILL BRING LIGHT SNOW TO NORTHERN NEBRASKA BY 02/00Z. HAVE INCLUDED LIGHT SNOW IN THE KVTN TAF. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 902 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013/ UPDATE... RETURNS ON RADAR OVER SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AND GROUND TRUTH INDICATE LIGHT SNOW FALLING OVER THE SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA PANHANDLE AND SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA. HAVE INCLUDED SOME LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS WITH NO ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED. REMAINDER OF FORECAST LOOKS GOOD. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 622 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013/ AVIATION... VISUAL FLIGHT RULES EXPECTED THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON OVER WESTERN NEBRASKA. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE TO THE SOUTHEAST OVER THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 200 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013/ DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM... THE VERY COLD ARCTIC HIGH CENTERED OVER THE NRN PLAINS THIS AFTN WILL DRIFT SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE MISSOURI BASIN TONIGHT. THE MODELS CONTINUE TO FORECAST A WARM FRONT MOVING EAST THROUGH THE FCST AREA OVERNIGHT. THIS WILL PRODUCE MUCH MILDER TEMPERATURES ON FRIDAY HOWEVER AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IS FCST TO RIP SOUTHEAST THROUGH ERN SD AND NERN NEB ALONG AN 850 MB FRONT. ISOLATED LIGHT RAIN OR SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS NRN NEB WITH THE DISTURBANCE. THE NAM AND GFS ARE SHOWING FAIRLY DEEP MOISTURE ELSEWHERE SO SIGNIFICANT CLOUD COVER IS EXPECTED WHICH WOULD HOLD MAX TEMPS DOWN...ESPECIALLY ACROSS WRN NEB WHERE SNOW COVER IS IN PLACE. IT STILL LOOKS MOSTLY CLEAR FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THE 850 MB FRONT WILL REMAIN STATIONARY ALONG AND EAST OF THE MISSOURI BASIN SATURDAY AND THEN DRIFT EAST SUNDAY AS THE DEEP UPPER LEVEL LOW ACROSS HUDSON BAY MOVES EAST. THE FCST IS DRY BOTH DAYS. A SECOND LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL TRACK THROUGH THE UPPER MIDWEST SATURDAY PRODUCING BREEZY CONDITIONS ACROSS NORTHEAST NEBRASKA. LONG TERM... THE HUDSON BAY LOW WILL RETREAT NORTH...FLATTEN AND BECOME ELONGATED MORE EAST AND WEST ACROSS NRN CANADA. THIS WILL SET UP A PROLONGED PERIOD WHERE MILD PACIFIC AIR CAN INVADE THE FCST AREA. THE LATEST SOLNS OF THE GEM...GFS AND ECM DO HOWEVER SUGGEST A SERIES OF WEAK COLD FRONTAL PASSAGES ASSOCIATED WITH FAST MOVING DISTURBANCES EMBEDDED IN THE NRN STREAM. FRONTAL PASSAGES TUESDAY AND THURSDAY WOULD TAKE THE EDGE OFF WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A PROTRACTED WARMING TREND. SO THE FCST TEMPERATURES NEXT WEEK ARE 40S AND 50S FOR HIGHS WITH MOSTLY 50S SOUTH AND 40S NORTH. THE FORECAST IS DRY. THE DISTURBANCE THURSDAY IS ACTING AS A LEAD SHORT WAVE FOR A DEEPER LONG WAVE TROF FCST BY ALL MODELS TO MOVE IN THE WRN U.S. THURSDAY. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM/EXTENDED...POWER/CDC AVIATION...POWER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 433 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-012245- 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- 433 PM CST THU JAN 31 2013 /333 PM MST THU JAN 31 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. 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 POWER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
27 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite slightly above normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
The drought that began in June 2012 continued through February 2013. The exceptional (D4) drought lingered despite near normal precipitation during the month.
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, February 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: 428738, 428739, 428740, 428742, 428744, 428745, 428747, 428749, 428750, 428753, 428754, 428755, 428756, 428758, 428759, 428761, 428763, 428737, 428741, 428743, 428746, 428748, 428751, 428752, 428757, 428760, 428762.