Strong western winds developed behind a cold front across portions of southwest and central Nebraska during the afternoon hours on March 6, 2017. Westerly winds of 35 to 45 mph with a few gusts to around 60 mph were recorded.
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.
Strong western winds developed behind a cold front across portions of southwest and central Nebraska during the afternoon hours on March 6, 2017. Westerly winds of 35 to 45 mph with a few gusts to around 60 mph were recorded.
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 Mar 6, 10:36 AM MST, 24 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service North Platte NE 1136 AM CST Mon Mar 6 2017 .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 327 AM CST Mon Mar 6 2017 H5 analysis from earlier this evening has a trough of low pressure extending from British Columbia south into the California Sierras. Further east, a ridge of high pressure extended from the ohio valley north into western Quebec. East of the ridge, a closed low was noted east of Newfoundland with a trough extending south into the western Atlantic. At the surface, low pressure was located over northeastern Wyoming with an inverted trough of low pressure extending north into western North Dakota. A dryline extended to the south southeast of the low from south central South Dakota into central Nebraska. South of the low, a surface trough extended south along the front ranges of Wyoming and Colorado. Breezy southerly winds have developed overnight along and east of the dryline from McCook to Ainsworth with wind speeds gusting as high as 30 MPH for Broken Bow. This has kept temperatures elevated overnight with readings in the 40s and lower 50s across western and north central Nebraska. Skies were generally clear with some high clouds present from Imperial north to Valentine and points east. && .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 327 AM CST Mon Mar 6 2017 Winds will be the main forecast challenge today along with fire weather concerns which are addressed in the fire weather section below. A fast moving upper level trough of low pressure will track from the northern Rockies into North Dakota today. This feature will push a pacific cold front through western and north central Nebraska later this morning into the afternoon hours. For the most part, the frontal passage will be a dry one. The exception will be over far northern and northwestern portions of the forecast area where some weak mid level lift in association with the upper level trough will track across South Dakota and far northern Nebraska. Inherited pops were scaled back some to account for the very limited qpf potential, as very dry air will push into the forecast area from the west today. Then there is the winds behind the exiting pacific cold front this afternoon. Bufkit soundings continue to indicate a very mixed profile up to 500 to 600MB this afternoon with very steep lapse rates. Winds in these levels are in the 40 to 50 KT range and peak in the mid afternoon. Went ahead and extended the current high wind warning further east to encompass the remainder of the forecast area as NAM bufkit soundings for O'Neill came in with stronger winds this afternoon. Also, additional support for high winds lies with the presence of a PV anomaly which tracks across northern Nebraska this afternoon. Both the NAM and GFS solutions have this area of PV present down to 500-600MB across northern Nebraska at 21z this afternoon, which is cause for concern for a brief episode of stronger winds as this feature tracks across northern Nebraska. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday through Sunday) Issued at 327 AM CST Mon Mar 6 2017 Main forecast concern during this time period is the winds on Tuesday along with fire weather potential. Tuesday will be another dry day with dewpoints in the single digits to teens helping aid relative humidly values in the teens and 20s as well. Have decided to issue a Fire Weather Watch for Tuesday...please see the fire weather section for more information. As for winds Tuesday will be another breezy day...however decided to hold off on a high wind watch as at this time we do not meet criteria and have decided to hold off. Current thinking is strongest winds would occur during the early afternoon with wind speeds around 25 to around 30 knots. NW flow will prevail for much of the forecast period with highs bouncing back into the 50s and 60s Wednesday through Friday. A system will push through Saturday bringing cooler temperatures with highs mostly in the 40s and 50s. Much of the week will remain dry however towards the end of the week there will be a slight chance for rain/snow Friday through Sunday. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Tuesday afternoon) Issued at 1136 AM CST Mon Mar 6 2017 VFR is generally expected all areas this afternoon through Tuesday morning. An area of showers or spinkles should form/move across western Nebraksa this aftenoon and move east through Ncntl Nebraska this evening. This could produce local MVFR in lower CIGS and VSBY. Winds this afternoon...29035G45KT with Local gusts to 50KT. Wind diminish around sunset through 03z this evening. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 327 AM CST Mon Mar 6 2017 Inherited a red flag warning for all zones with the exception of zone 208 for today. Very dry air will filter in behind the exiting pacific cold front this afternoon. In fact some PWATS behind the front are under a tenth of an inch later today. Minimum relative humidity ranges from the lower to middle 20s over northern Nebraska to near 10 percent in southwestern Nebraska. Given the expected wind today, any fire which does ignite, will spread quickly. In addition to today, critical to near critical fire weather conditions are expected for Tuesday. With wind speeds only slightly lower than today's winds and minimum relative humidity forecast to fall to less than 20 percent, decided to hoist a fire weather watch for southwestern into central Nebraska. RH in the sandhills and northern Nebraska is expected to be higher as highs Tuesday will only reach the upper 40s to around 50. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning until 7 PM CST /6 PM MST/ this evening for NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094. Red Flag Warning until 9 PM CST /8 PM MST/ this evening for NEZ204-206-209-210-219. Fire Weather Watch from Tuesday afternoon through Tuesday evening for NEZ209-210-219. && SYNOPSIS...Buttler SHORT TERM...Buttler LONG TERM...Gomez AVIATION...CDC FIRE WEATHER...Buttler
Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED National Weather Service North Platte NE 1136 AM CST Mon Mar 6 2017 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-071745- 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- 1136 AM CST Mon Mar 6 2017 /1036 AM MST Mon Mar 6 2017/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of western and north central Nebraska. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. Strong west winds will develop behind an exiting cold front this afternoon. Sustained winds of 30 to 40 MPH with gusts up to 60 MPH are expected and a high wind warning is in effect for all of western and north central Nebraska. Please see the latest weather message for details in your area. Critical fire weather conditions are likely this afternoon for most of western and north central Nebraska. The exception is across portions of north central Nebraska from Valentine to north of O'Neill. Minimum relative humidity of 15 to 20 percent is expected in the critical fire weather area along with strong wind gusts which may approach 50 to 60 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. Critical to near critical fire weather conditions are possible Tuesday afternoon across portions of western and north central Nebraska. A fire weather watch is in effect Tuesday afternoon for southwestern into central Nebraska. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed through tonight. && Get your weather, hydrological, and climate information at http://www.weather.gov/northplatte
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong westerly winds of 35 to 45 mph with a gust to 58 mph occurred 2 miles east of Big Springs at 1210 pm MST. These winds were common across Deuel County during the early to mid afternoon hours.
The nearby McCook ASOS recorded strong westerly winds of 35 to 45 mph with a peak gust to 59 mph at 153 pm CST. These winds were common across Frontier County during the afternoon hours.
The Ogallala AWOS recorded strong westerly winds of 35 to 45 mph with a peak gust to 59 mph at 555 pm CST. These winds were common across Keith County during the late afternoon hours.
The North Platte ASOS recorded strong westerly winds of 35 to 45 mph with a peak gust to 59 mph at 525 pm CST. These winds were common across Lincoln County during the late afternoon hours.
The nearby Imperial ASOS recorded strong westerly winds of 35 to 45 mph with a peak gust to 59 mph at 553 pm CST. These winds were common across Hayes County during the late afternoon hours.
A Cooperative Observer located 8 miles west southwest of Callaway recorded strong westerly winds of 35 to 45 mph with a peak gust to 61 mph at 520 pm CST. These winds were common across Custer County during the late afternoon hours.
The Imperial ASOS recorded strong westerly winds of 35 to 45 mph with a peak gust to 59 mph at 553 pm CST. These winds were common across Chase County during the late afternoon hours.
The nearby Imperial ASOS and Ogallala AWOS recorded strong westerly winds of 35 to 45 mph with peak gusts to 59 mph during the late afternoon hours. These winds were common across Perkins County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, March 2017
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: 674048, 674080, 674049, 674050, 674069, 674094, 674051, 674052.