An upper level weather system moved across eastern Nebraska and produced a fairly narrow band of moderate snowfall on February of 1 to 5 inches of snow from Saline and Seward Counties in Nebraska to Harrison County and Pottawattamie Counties in Iowa. 7 inches at 68th and Dodge in Omaha, 3 inches west of Oakland, 4 inches at Scribner, NE , and 5 inches southwest of Dunlap, IA.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 OAX wrote it up.
An upper level weather system moved across eastern Nebraska and produced a fairly narrow band of moderate snowfall on February of 1 to 5 inches of snow from Saline and Seward Counties in Nebraska to Harrison County and Pottawattamie Counties in Iowa. The heaviest amounts included 2.7 inches at 68th and Dodge in Omaha, 3 inches west of Oakland, 4 inches at Scribner, NE , and 5 inches southwest of Dunlap, IA.
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 Omaha, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 1, 5:31 AM CST, 4 hours 29 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE 531 AM CST Thu Feb 1 2018 .SHORT TERM...(Today through Saturday) Issued at 312 AM CST Thu Feb 1 2018 Strong cold air advection continues to take hold this morning as Arctic air drops through the Northern Plains associated with broad upper-level trough pushing through the Upper Midwest. Temperatures are not expected to recover much, if at all today, with readings in the mid to upper teens in the north to lower to mid 20s south. Combined with gusty northwest winds, wind chill values today will likely remain in the negative single digits in the north to single digits and teens in our south. By 06z, a forecast 1037mb surface ridge axis will extend along the mid- Missouri river valley which should drop ambient temperatures into the single digits Friday morning . Mild return southerly flow quickly develops early Friday which should help temperatures mix into the 30s for highs. The remainder of the forecast remains dominated by northwesterly flow aloft bringing a few chances for light precipitation. A few flurries are possible Friday night but the next chance for measurable precipitation will be Saturday afternoon and evening as mid-level frontogenetic forcing dips south. Some of this will fall as rain south of I-80, but should quickly change over to a ra/sn mix before becoming all snow Saturday evening. Model blend snowfall totals produce less than a half inch for this particular event. .LONG TERM...(Saturday night through Wednesday) Issued at 312 AM CST Thu Feb 1 2018 The next chance for measurable precipitation will be Sunday morning into Sunday afternoon as a fast-moving upper impulse drops through the High Plains with the better forcing just skirting the western CWA. Model blend forecast snowfall totals from 06z/Sun to 18z/Sun are around a half inch to an inch in most places with a max of about 1.5" in our far northwestern counties. Additional rounds of accumulating precipitation are forecast Monday into Tuesday with the 00z ECMWF keeping the bulk of QPF across our far northern counties. Placement with the 00z GFS would give the forecast area more widespread precipitation. With placement differences, will lean toward a blended solution of pops across the forecast area. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Friday morning) Issued at 524 AM CST Thu Feb 1 2018 Generally VFR conditions with some patchy MVFR ceilings with flurries, however mainly a wind forecast for today. North winds 15 to 20kts this morning with gusts 20 to 30kts. As the surface high builds south, winds will decrease to below 15kts, then 10kts or less this evening. Warm air advection increases tonight and look for mid clouds to thicken Friday morning. The low level jet increases after the end of this TAF period, thus some flurries or light snow possible with this pattern and will pass on to the next shift. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...None. IA...None. && SHORT TERM...Kern LONG TERM...Kern AVIATION...Zapotocny
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE 337 AM CST Thu Feb 1 2018 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-012345- Monona-Harrison-Shelby-Pottawattamie-Mills-Montgomery-Fremont- Page-Knox-Cedar-Thurston-Antelope-Pierce-Wayne-Boone-Madison- Stanton-Cuming-Burt-Platte-Colfax-Dodge-Washington-Butler- Saunders-Douglas-Sarpy-Seward-Lancaster-Cass-Otoe-Saline- Jefferson-Gage-Johnson-Nemaha-Pawnee-Richardson- 337 AM CST Thu Feb 1 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southwest Iowa...west central Iowa...east central Nebraska...northeast Nebraska and southeast Nebraska. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday There are several chances for light snow during the time period including Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Wind chills around -10 to -15 are possible across northeast Nebraska Sunday morning. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed today or tonight.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
A measurement of 1.1 inches of snow occurred at Western.
A person measured 4 inches of snow at Scribner.
There was 2.7 inches of snow reported at 62nd Street and Dodge in Omaha.
There was a report of 2 inches of snow.
A CO-OP observer measured 1.5 inches of snow 4 miles east-northeast of Gretna and 1.5 inches of snow at Offutt Air Force Base.
One inch of snow was reported at Waverly.
There was a report of 1 inch of snow at Garland and 1.6 inches of snow 5 miles north-northeast of Garland.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, February 2018
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: 742382, 742380, 742373, 742376, 742378, 742384, 742385.