Nebraska, 2013

Winter Weather in Nebraska, January 11, 2013

January 11, 2013 · NWS LBF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

January 11, 2013 a powerful upper level low pressure system moved through the Plains and brought winter weather conditions to western and north central Nebraska. Snow and blowing snow was forecasted for the eastern Panhandle and the western Sandhills of Nebraska.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
4
Injuries
0
Property damage
$1.0 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS LBF wrote it up.

January 11, 2013 a powerful upper level low pressure system moved through the Plains and brought winter weather conditions to western and north central Nebraska. Snow and blowing snow was forecasted for the eastern Panhandle and the western Sandhills of Nebraska. Further southeast, to include Lee Bird Field (LBF) in Lincoln County, areas of patchy freezing drizzle or light freezing would give way to snow before the threat for freezing precipitation would end around midnight. A plane that took off from the North Platte Regional Airport at 1553 CST crashed about 11 miles northeast of the airport, in the Maxwell area. The aircraft crashed resulting in four fatalities (indirect).

What forecasters said that day

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 11, 3:14 PM CST, 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 11, 3:14 PM CST, 36 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 11, 3:43 PM CST, 7 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 11, 10:36 AM CST, 5 hours 14 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Lincoln

When
January 11, 3:50 PM CST to 3:53 PM CST
Where
Lincoln forecast zone
Deaths
0 direct, 4 indirect
Property damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
41.048, -100.745 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Nebraska State Patrol notified WFO North Platte of a plane that took off from the North Platte Regional Airport, Lee Bird Field (LBF) at 1546 CST and lost contact seven minutes later at 1553 CST. At the time weather conditions at LBF included freezing drizzle and visibility of three miles, with a cloud ceiling of 900 feet. The plane was a multi-engine BE-58 manufactured by Raytheon according to a FAA spokeswoman. The plane crashed 11 miles northeast of North Platte in the Maxwell area. Four male fatalities (indirect) occurred in the crash.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Winter Weather, Lincoln2013-01-11MaleOtherIndirect
Winter Weather, Lincoln2013-01-11MaleOtherIndirect
Winter Weather, Lincoln2013-01-11MaleOtherIndirect
Winter Weather, Lincoln2013-01-11MaleOtherIndirect

What these are

Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Nebraska in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, January 2013

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 428112.