Heavy snow began to fall across portions of North Central Nebraska during the evening hours on December 25th and continued into the morning hours on December 26th. Snowfall amounts ranged from 5 to 8 inches with some blowing and drifting.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
Heavy snow began to fall across portions of North Central Nebraska during the evening hours on December 25th and continued into the morning hours on December 26th. Snowfall amounts ranged from 5 to 8 inches with some blowing and drifting.
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 25, 5:28 PM CST, 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 528 PM CST FRI DEC 25 2015 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY) ISSUED AT 258 PM CST FRI DEC 25 2015 STORM SYSTEM TO AFFECT THE AREA IS ON TRACK FOR TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY. LATE THIS AFTERNOON...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATES THE PV ANOMALY LOCATED OVER GRAND JUNCTION IN WESTERN COLORADO. MODELS AGREE THAT THE ANOMALY WILL MOVE EAST-NORTHEAST INTO WESTERN NEBRASKA THIS EVENING. A STRONG JET STREAK WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS KANSAS INTO EASTERN NEBRASKA AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM TONIGHT. A CROSS SECTION FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE REGION SHOWS A CLASSIC AGEOSTROPHIC RESPONSE AS THE JET STREAK MOVES ACROSS...WITH DEEP LIFT ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA. CONCERNS WITH SATURATION IN THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE ACROSS SOUTHWEST INTO PORTIONS OF CENTRAL NEBRASKA...BUT THAT WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE ACROSS THE PANHANDLE INTO NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. SNOW SHOULD INCREASE RAPIDLY ACROSS THE PANHANDLE INTO NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA TONIGHT...AND CURRENT HEADLINES FOR WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY AND WINTER STORM WARNING LOOK GOOD. DID EXPAND THE WARNING INTO BOYD COUNTY...BUT OTHERWISE NO CHANGES. AS MENTIONED MID LEVEL DRY AIR WILL ADVECT INTO SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL NEBRASKA...SO NOT EXPECTING AS MUCH SNOW IN THESE AREAS. COULD HAVE SOME LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE HOWEVER. SATURDAY MORNING A STRONG ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA. H850MB WINDS INCREASE THROUGH THE DAY TO AROUND 45 KTS BY AFTERNOON. BLOWING SNOW WILL LIKELY BE AN ISSUE ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND INTO THE PANHANDLE...AS NORTH WIND GUSTS OVER 30 MPH ARE LIKELY. OTHERWISE FALLING TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE TEENS EXPECTED. .LONG TERM...(SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 258 PM CST FRI DEC 25 2015 VERY COLD TEMPERATURES ARE LIKELY BY SUNDAY MORNING WITH LOWS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AND THE SINGLE DIGITS BELOW ZERO IN THE NORTHERN SANDHILLS AND THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE. COMPARABLE TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED AGAIN SUNDAY NIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY. THERE IS STILL CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY REGARDING THE IMPACT OF THE MONDAY-TUESDAY SYSTEM ON CENTRAL AND WESTERN NEBRASKA. THE NAM12 IS ABOUT 4 DEGREES LONGITUDE FARTHER WEST THAN THE GFS40 WITH THE TRACK OF THE CYCLONE. THIS DIFFERENCE IS SIGNIFICANT WITH THE MORE WESTERLY TRACK GIVING ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE OVER THE COLD DOME REACHING THE NEBRASKA SANDHILLS WHILE THE MORE EASTERLY TRACK LEAVING CENTRAL AND WESTERN NEBRASKA OUT OF THE PRECIPITATION COMPLETELY. ACCOUNTING FOR THE UNCERTAINTY...WE WILL KEEP THE PROBABILITY LOW. AGAIN... SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE EXTENDED SOLUTIONS CONTINUE EVEN THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. THE ECMWF TAKES THE CYCLONE ALMOST DUE NORTH INTO NORTHERN IOWA BEFORE TURNING IT EAST. AS A RESULT...SOME CHANCE OF SNOWFALL WILL CONTINUE UNTIL TUESDAY EVENING IN NORTHERN NEBRASKA. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 528 PM CST FRI DEC 25 2015 IFR/LIFR IN SNOW AND LOW CIGS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT THROUGH 15Z SATURDAY...MAINLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80 TO THE SD BORDER. MVFR/VFR CIGS ARE EXPECTED SATURDAY. THE MVFR IS MOST LIKELY ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 20. CONFIDENCE IS GOOD AND THE RAP AND NAM MODELS WERE THE BASIS FOR THE FORECAST. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ SATURDAY FOR NEZ004>007-094. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ SATURDAY FOR NEZ008>010-022>029-035>038-056-057-059. && SHORT TERM...TAYLOR LONG TERM...SPRINGER AVIATION...CDC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 450 PM CST FRI DEC 25 2015 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-262300- 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- 450 PM CST FRI DEC 25 2015 /350 PM MST FRI DEC 25 2015/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. A WINTER STORM WILL BRING ACCUMULATING SNOW TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY. THE GREATEST SNOW TOTALS WILL GENERALLY BE ACROSS NORTHWEST AND PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...WHERE 6 INCHES OR MORE IS POSSIBLE. LIGHTER SNOW AMOUNTS ARE FORECAST ELSEWHERE. PATCHY FREEZING DRIZZLE MAY DEVELOP IN PARTS OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL NEBRASKA TONIGHT...BUT SIGNIFICANT ICE ACCUMULATION IS NOT EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. SNOW WILL END OVER NORTHERN NEBRASKA THROUGH THE DAY ON SATURDAY...BUT BLOWING SNOW COULD CONTINUE. SUNDAY MORNING...DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS ARE FORECAST ACROSS NORTHWEST NEBRASKA AND PARTS OF THE WESTERN SANDHILLS. READINGS MAY APPROACH MINUS 20 WEST OF A BIG SPRINGS TO VALENTINE LINE. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL CROSS THE PLAINS MONDAY INTO TUESDAY. THERE IS A CHANCE OF ACCUMULATING SNOW OVER NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA EAST OF A LINE FROM BASSETT TO BROKEN BOW...BUT UNCERTAINTY REMAINS WITH THE STORM TRACK AND SNOW AMOUNTS. IF YOU ARE TRAVELING ACROSS WESTERN OR NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA FOR THE HOLIDAYS OR EARLY NEXT WEEK...MONITOR THE LATEST FORECAST AS STORM AMOUNTS AND TIMING MAY CHANGE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO RELAY SNOW AMOUNTS AND ANY ICE ACCUMULATION TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE. && GET YOUR WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL...AND CLIMATE INFORMATION AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/NORTHPLATTE (ALL LOWERCASE) TAYLOR
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
COOP Observer in Butte reported 6 inches of snowfall. Across Boyd County 5 to 7 inches of snow occurred along with areas of blowing and drifting.
General Public reported 6 to 8 inches of snowfall with blowing and drifting occurring.
The Nebraska Department of Roads and general public reported snowfall amounts of 5 to 6 inches across western Cherry County with some blowing and drifting and visibilities reduced to a quarter mile at times.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, December 2015
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: 606462, 606464, 606468.