An arctic airmass combined with brisk winds to produce dangerous wind chills of 30 below to 40 below across portions of western Nebraska during the evening and overnight hours on December 30-31, 2014.
Every event with a place to put it; 13 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 combined with brisk winds to produce dangerous wind chills of 30 below to 40 below across portions of western Nebraska during the evening and overnight hours on December 30-31, 2014.
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 30, 4:36 PM MST, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 536 PM CST TUE DEC 30 2014 .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 334 PM CST TUE DEC 30 2014 A HIGH LATITUDE BLOCK IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP ACROSS NRN ALASKA IN RESPONSE TO BUILDING HEIGHTS ACROSS THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC. THIS WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SERIES OF ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEMS WHICH WILL MOVE INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST AND GREAT PLAINS. A BRIEF MODEST WARM UP IS EXPECTED IN BETWEEN EACH HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM WHICH WOULD LIKELY PRODUCE HIGHS NEAR OF SLIGHTLY ABOVE FREEZING. THE FORECAST CONCERN IS THE MAX AND MIN TEMPERATURES. A FAIRLY STRONG ARCTIC FRONT IS NOW FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH SATURDAY WHICH COULD PRODUCE SNOW SHOWERS AND WINDY CONDITIONS DURING THE DAY...OTHERWISE THE FORECAST IS DRY. && .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY) ISSUED AT 334 PM CST TUE DEC 30 2014 AT 20Z...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWED AN UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE GREAT BASIN...WITH A TROUGH EXTENDING NORTHEAST THROUGH THE DAKOTAS TO NORTHERN QUEBEC. COULD NOTE A PV ANOMALY OVER THE NORTH/SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER WHICH WAS PUSHING SOUTH. STRONG NORTHERLY FLOW SEEN GOING UPSTREAM BEHIND THE DAKOTAS PV ANOMALY AS RIDGING OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC EXTENDED INTO ALASKA. THE COLDEST AIR HOWEVER WAS FROM THE ALONG THE AFOREMENTIONED TROUGH...FROM THE HIGH PLAINS INTO NORTHERN QUEBEC WHERE 850MB TEMPERATURE READINGS RANGED FROM -20C TO -30C ACCORDING TO 30.12Z SOUNDING DATA. AT THE SURFACE...HIGH PRESSURE WAS SITUATED OVER NORTHEAST MONTANA AT MID AFTERNOON. WITH THE COLD AIRMASS IN PLACE...AND AS CLOUDS HAVE BEEN OVER MUCH OF THE AREA TODAY...TEMPERATURES HAVE TOPPED OUT IN THE SINGLE DIGITS FOR MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA. LIGHT SNOW CONTINUES TO FALL OVER SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA THIS AFTERNOON. VISIBILITIES HAVE IMPROVED TO 2-3SM AT KIML AND KMCK SO MEASURABLE SNOW IS NOT ANTICIPATED YET THIS AFTERNOON. FOR TONIGHT...A DRY AIRMASS IS BEING PUSHED INTO THE REGION AS SKIES OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS ARE MOSTLY CLEAR. AS THE UPPER LEVEL PV ANOMALY MOVES SOUTH TONIGHT SO WILL THE SURFACE HIGH AS IT WILL PASS ACROSS WESTERN NEBRASKA. THE DRY AIR WILL LEAD TO SKIES BECOMING CLEAR ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS EVENING...AND AS THE HIGH MOVES OVERHEAD WINDS WILL BECOME LIGHT OR CALM. THIS SHOULD LEAD TO TEMPERATURES FALLING QUICKLY THIS EVENING AND EXPECTING TEMPERATURES TO REACH MINIMUM VALUES EARLY...SHORTLY AFTER 06Z BECAUSE THE SURFACE HIGH WILL BE MOVING SOUTH FAIRLY QUICKLY AND WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO PICK UP A BIT BY MORNING. THE FORECAST DOES FOLLOW THE COLDEST GUIDANCE VALUES WHICH SEEMS APPROPRIATE IN THIS SITUATION AS TEMPERATURES WILL START NEAR ZERO...THERE IS DECENT SNOWPACK ACROSS THE AREA...ALONG WITH HIGH PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS THE AREA. BY 12-15Z THE PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS JUST ENOUGH TO INCREASE WINDS A BIT...TO AROUND 10KTS ESPECIALLY OVER NORTHERN NEBRASKA. ALTHOUGH NOT REAL STRONG...WITH REAL TEMPERATURES OF -8F TO -25F WHICH ARE CURRENTLY FORECAST...EVEN A 5 TO 10KT WIND WILL DROP WIND CHILLS TO DANGEROUS LEVELS AND ONGOING WIND CHILL HEADLINES STILL LOOK APPROPRIATE WITH A WIND CHILL WARNING MAINLY WEST OF HIGHWAY 83 AND A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN AREAS TO THE EAST. THE AREA COMES INTO A SLIGHT WARM AIR ADVECTION REGIME THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY SO TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE ABLE TO WARM INTO THE TEENS TO NEAR 20F AS 850MB TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR 15 DEGREES WARMER THAN WHAT IS ONGOING TODAY. IT WON/T WARM FAST THOUGH AND WIND CHILLS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW ZERO THROUGH 18Z. OTHERWISE WEATHER SHOULD BE UNEVENTFUL ON WEDNESDAY WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES. .LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY) ISSUED AT 334 PM CST TUE DEC 30 2014 WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...A WEAK AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE OFF THE WRN HIGH PLAINS OF WYOMING WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE LATEST GUIDANCE INDICATES A GOOD CHANCE OF SUBZERO LOWS ACROSS WRN AND SCNTL NEB. WINDS ARE LIGHT WEST AND NORTHWEST WHICH WOULD PROVIDE GOOD DRAINAGE FOR LOWS ZERO TO MINUS 8F. FARTHER NORTH AND EAST...WINDS STAY STRONG IN THE 850-700MB LAYER NEAR 30 KT WHICH IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE LOWS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS. ON THURSDAY...THE INSIDE SLIDER MOVING THROUGH THE WRN STATES WILL LIFT INTO THE FOUR CORNERS REGION. SOME MIDLEVEL CLOUDS MAY MOVE INTO THE SWRN NEB FROM THIS SYSTEM WHILE OTHER CLOUDS FROM THE NRN STREAM MOVE INTO NRN NEB. HIGHS RISE INTO THE MID AND UPPER 20S. THE SCATTERED TO BROKEN CLOUD COVER LASTS INTO FRIDAY BUT THIS IS GOOD BECAUSE LOWS FRIDAY MORNING WOULD ONLY FALL INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS PROVIDING A BREAK FROM THE SUBZERO LOWS OF THE PREVIOUS THREE MORNINGS. HIGHS WARM A FEW DEGREES FRIDAY WITH THE WARMER STARTING POINT. 25 TO 30 IS THE FORECAST. THE TEMPERATURES AT H850-700MB REMAIN STATIC THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THE UPPER LOW APPEARS TO BE OFFSETTING ANY WARMING ALOFT AND NO SIGNIFICANT CHINOOK DEVELOPS OFF THE CNTL HIGH PLAINS. LOW PRESSURE MOVING THROUGH THE NRN PLAINS SIMPLY TUGS AT ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE ROCKIES PIECE BY PIECE. FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...THE MODELS TODAY ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE PROGRESSION OF ARCTIC HIGHS MOVING SOUTH OUT OF CANADA. TIMING DIFFERENCES LEAD TO DIVERGENT SOLNS BY TUESDAY. REGARDLESS...LOW PRESSURE SHOULD BE CIRCULATING THROUGH THE NRN PLAINS FRIDAY NIGHT AND THIS DEEPENING LOW WOULD KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE WELL MIXED ACROSS THE NORTH WITH LOWS IN THE TEENS...SINGLE DIGITS TO NEAR 10 SOUTH. THE SFC LOW FRIDAY NIGHT IS ACTUALLY QUITE VIGOROUS AS IT OPERATES ON A HIGHLY FOCUSED H850MB THERMAL FRONT. THE MODELS RESPOND BY SETTING UP 30 TO 45 KT WINDS AT 500M AGL BEHIND THE FRONT SATURDAY. THE ECM WAS THE STRONGEST WITH 45 KT. THIS WOULD PRODUCE 30 TO 45 MPH WINDS AT THE SFC AND HEAVY BLOWING SNOW. THE MODEL SKILL AT 108 HRS IS GENERALLY PRETTY GOOD BUT THIS IS THE FIRST RUN TO SHOW THIS DEVELOPMENT SO CONFIDENCE IS LOW FOR NOW AND LATER MODEL RUNS WILL BE MONITORED. FORECAST HIGHS ARE IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S WHICH IS CLOSE TO A BLEND OF THE 18Z TEMPERATURES IN THE GFS...ECM AND GEM PLUS BIAS CORRECTION. BY 00Z H850MB TEMPS ARE -5 TO -18C WHICH MEANS FALLING TEMPERATURES DEVELOP AT SOME POINT DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE UPPER LEVEL CIRCULATION IS HIGHLY AMPLIFIED AND FAST WHICH MIGHT NOT ALLOW FOR SIGNIFICANT COLD AIR DAMMING ACROSS THE ROCKIES. THUS HIGHS SUNDAY CAN WARM UP TO THE 20S IN THE SOUTHWEST WHILE TEENS HANG ON IN THE NORTHEAST. AN H850MB WARM FRONT QUICKLY DEVELOPS SUNDAY NIGHT WHICH MOVES EAST INTO WRN NEB MONDAY. THE ECM IS VERY COLD MONDAY HOLDING HIGHS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS WHILE THE GFS SHOWS TEENS AND MOSTLY 20S. THE FORECAST FOLLOWS THE GFS FOR NOW BUT THE ECM IS WORTH WATCHING. TIMING DIFFERENCES IN THE GFS AND ECM LEAD TO 15 DEGREE DIFFERENCES IN THE TEMPERATURE FORECAST TUESDAY. THE GFS IS FASTER AND COLDER PULLING ANOTHER ARCTIC HIGH INTO THE FCST AREA WHILE THE SLOWER ECM IS WARMER. THE SLOWER ECM STILL PULLS AN ARCTIC FRONT THROUGH THE FCST AREA TUESDAY AFTN. THE FORECAST TAKES THE MIDDLE GROUND FOR HIGHS IN THE 20S AND 30S WHICH IS CLOSE TO THE GEF. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 536 PM CST TUE DEC 30 2014 COLD ARCTIC SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE 1047MB DRIFTING SOUTH INTO CENTRAL NEBRASKA OVER NIGHT. LIGHT WESTERLY WINDS OVER WESTERN NEBRASKA AND LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS OVER CENTRAL NEBRASKA. FEW HIGH THIN CIRRUS OVER SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA TONIGHT OTHERWISE VISUAL FLIGHT RULES WITH CLEAR SKIES. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL WARNING UNTIL NOON CST /11 AM MST/ WEDNESDAY FOR NEZ004-005-022>025-035>037-056>059-069>071-094. WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CST WEDNESDAY FOR NEZ006>010- 026>029-038. && SYNOPSIS...CDC SHORT TERM...BROOKS LONG TERM...CDC AVIATION...POWER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 355 PM CST TUE DEC 30 2014 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-312200- 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- 355 PM CST TUE DEC 30 2014 /255 PM MST TUE DEC 30 2014/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. VERY COLD TEMPERATURES WILL COMBINE WITH WESTERLY WINDS TO DROP WIND CHILLS TO DANGEROUS LEVELS ACROSS NEBRASKA TONIGHT. WIND CHILLS WILL REACH 20 BELOW TO NEAR 30 BELOW ZERO BY EARLY EVENING AND IN WESTERN NEBRASKA...WILL FALL FURTHER TO 30 BELOW TO 40 BELOW ZERO LATE THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. WIND CHILLS WILL REMAIN AT DANGEROUSLY COLD LEVELS WEDNESDAY MORNING BUT WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE. BY MID DAY...WIND CHILLS ARE EXPECTED TO RISE TO 15 BELOW TO 20 BELOW ZERO. .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
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
202 PM CST TUE DEC 30 2014
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0201 PM SNOW LYNCH 42.83N 98.47W
12/30/2014 M2.0 INCH BOYD NE CO-OP OBSERVER
SNOWFALL FROM YESTERDAY
&&
JGOMEZThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
13 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Nearby Alliance ASOS reported a wind chill value of 36 below at 6 pm MST on December 30th. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 40 below were common across Sheridan County during the evening hours on December 30th into the morning hours on December 31st.
Valentine ASOS reported a wind chill of 34 below at 9 pm CST on January 30th. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 40 below were common across eastern Cherry County during the overnight hours on December 30th into the morning hours on December 31st.
Ogallala AWOS reported a wind chill of 31 below at 8 pm MST on January 30th. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 40 below were common across Keith County during the overnight hours on December 30th into the morning hours on December 31st.
A RAWS site at Crescent Lake reported a wind chill of 30 below at 11 pm MST on January 30th. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 40 below were common across Garden County during the overnight hours on December 30th into the morning hours on December 31st.
A nearby RAWS site at Crescent Lake reported a wind chill of 30 below at 11 pm MST on January 30th. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 40 below were common across Grant County during the overnight hours on December 30th into the morning hours on December 31st.
A nearby RAWS site at Crescent Lake reported a wind chill of 30 below at 11 pm MST on January 30th. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 40 below were common across Arthur County during the overnight hours on December 30th into the morning hours on December 31st.
North Platte ASOS reported a wind chill of 30 below at midnight CST on January 31st. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 35 below were common across Lincoln County during the early morning into the morning hours on December 31st.
A mesonet observation near Big Springs reported a wind chill of 31 below at 2 am MST on January 31st. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 40 below were common across Deuel County during the early morning into the morning hours on December 31st.
Nearby Imperial ASOS reported a wind chill of 31 below at 1 am MST on January 31st. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 40 below were common across Perkins County during the early morning into the morning hours on December 31st.
Imperial ASOS reported a wind chill of 31 below at 1 am MST on January 31st. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 40 below were common across Chase County during the early morning into the morning hours on December 31st.
Nearby Imperial ASOS reported a wind chill of 31 below at 2 am CST on January 31st. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 35 below were common across Hayes County during the early morning into the morning hours on December 31st.
A Nebraska Department of Roads weather station reported a wind chill of 47 below at 5 am MST on January 31st. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 40 below were common across western Cherry County during the overnight hours on December 30th into the morning hours on December 31st.
Nearby McCook ASOS reported a wind chill of 31 below at 7 am CST on January 31st. Dangerous wind chill values of 30 below to 35 below were common across Frontier County during the morning hours on December 31st.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, December 2014
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: 551326, 551329, 551332, 551328, 551330, 551331, 551336, 551333, 551334, 551335, 551337, 551327, 551338.