Strong northwest winds exceeding 60 mph occurred in Custer County during the early morning hours on March 6th, and across Frontier County during the morning through the mid afternoon hours.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 northwest winds exceeding 60 mph occurred in Custer County during the early morning hours on March 6th, and across Frontier County during the morning through the mid afternoon hours.
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 5, 11:35 PM CST, 25 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service North Platte NE 1135 PM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 246 PM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 At 20z...Surface low pressure was centered from northeast South Dakota through northwest Iowa. Windy conditions across all of the northern and central Plains. Regional radar shows snow across much of the Dakota and Minnesota. Southward extent into northern Iowa and northeast Nebraska. Temperatures ranged from 29 at O'Neill to 46 at Imperial. Northwest winds gusting to over 45 mph most areas, with a few gusts over 60 mph. && .UPDATE... Issued at 854 PM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 Just sent a new set of zone forecasts and updated headlines to eliminate the high wind warning and continue the high wind watch in the southwest, as well as continue all winter headlines in the northeastern forecast area. Light snow continues to track into northeastern portions of the forecast area this evening, however visibilities, were 4 miles at VTN and 5 miles at ONL as of 8 PM and 830 PM cst respectively. Snowfall rates should pick up across north central Nebraska overnight as a secondary shortwave is forced south. With this in mind, decided to keep all winter headlines going. As for the wind. As expected, wind speeds have fallen this evening with the sun setting. Am expecting these to increase toward daybreak as a secondary cold front pushes southwest across the forecast area. Cold air advection will end around midday with H85 temps actually beginning to warm across southwestern Nebraska Tuesday afternoon. This should allow winds to begin to diminish after midday. Right now, it appears the strongest winds are expected from mid morning to early afternoon. Not sure if they will reach high wind warning criteria attm and will need to continue to eval the situation this evening. That being said, will hold onto the high wind watch for now. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday) Issued at 246 PM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 For tonight, a 700mb low in northwest Iowa will move into central Iowa by 12z Tuesday. Computer models show wrap around snow developing and spreading southward overnight into north central and a small portions of central Nebraska. The snow forecast continues to follow a multimodel blend and there is good agreement with up to two tenths inch of QPF across Boyd county and less than a tenth inch at Valentine an Ainsworth. Snowfall amounts near 3 inches expected in Keya Paha and Boyd county, where the Blizzard Warning continues and northwest winds of 25 to 40 mph. Due to the strong winds combined with snow, white out conditions remain possible. Lows across western Nebraska from the lower to mid 20s. On Tuesday, The models show the upper low accelerating eastward into central Illinois through Michigan. Light snow to remain likely east of Valentine through Burwell during the morning with strong northwest winds of 25 to 40 mph. Accumulating snow should end across the northeast in the afternoon, although snow chances do remain. The Blizzard Warning and Winter Weather Advisory to expire at 18z. Across southwest Nebraska, high winds are again possible. Gusts to 50 mph area likely with a few gusts to 60 mph possible. This is for the counties along the I80 corridor and further south. For these areas, a High Wind Watch has been issued. The strongest winds however should be from mid morning thorugh early afternoon, then diminish as the pressure gradient weakens. The northwesterly flow will continue to tap colder air from the north across the forecast area, with highs limited to near 30 northeast, to the lower 40s southwest. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday night through Monday) Issued at 246 PM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 Models in the mid and long term are all fairly close but whats not to be close when a ridge is building back into north plains? Temperatures will be main concern and weak trough moving through on the weekend. Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday evening some diminishing light snow or flurries. A weak wave to the west across the Panhandle not expected to produce enough lift for any type of precipitation. Lows in the teens. Wednesday will see increasing temperatures as upper ridge builds east but northeast Nebraska will remain under the influence of the Great Lakes low. Highs near 50 southwest and at 30 in the O'Neill vicinity. Wednesday night into Thursday will see lows around 20. Highs on Thursday range from 40s at O'Neill to 60 at Imperial. Stronger wave approaching from the northwest Saturday with temperatures rising ahead of this feature into the 50s and 60s on Friday. Temperatures falling back into the 40s and 50s on Saturday as cool front moves through with a mix of precipitation mainly north. Similar high temperatures Sunday and Monday and dry. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 1134 PM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 Expect gusty northwesterly winds over the next 18 hours at the KLBF and KVTN terminals. Winds will gust in the 30 to 40 KT range overnight tonight into mid afternoon Tuesday. Some gusts may approach 45 KTS at the KLBF terminal, especially Tuesday morning. Wind gusts will fall into the 20 to 30 KT range Tuesday evening. As for clouds, for the KLBF terminal, expect scattered to broken cigs ranging from 10000 to 20000 ft agl. For the KVTN terminal, expect broken to overcast ceilings ranging from 2000 to 5000 ft agl over the next 24 hours. There will be a threat for snow overnight into early Tuesday morning with visibilities as low as 2sm. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Watch from 8 AM CST /7 AM MST/ Tuesday through Tuesday afternoon for NEZ056>059-069>071. Winter Weather Advisory until noon CST /11 AM MST/ Tuesday for NEZ005-008>010. Blizzard Warning until noon CST Tuesday for NEZ006-007. && UPDATE...Buttler SYNOPSIS...Roberg SHORT TERM...Roberg LONG TERM...Power AVIATION...Buttler
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service North Platte NE 332 PM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-062145- 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- 332 PM CST Mon Mar 5 2018 /232 PM MST Mon Mar 5 2018/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of western and north central Nebraska. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. Winter Weather Advisories, Blizzard Warnings and High Wind Warnings and High Wind Watches are in effect for parts of western and north central Nebraska. Please see the latest weather bulletin for details in your area. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. Winter Weather Advisories and Blizzard Warnings are in effect for parts of north central Nebraska until noon Tuesday. Please see the latest winter weather bulletin for details in your area. Very windy conditions with gusts of 45 to 55 mph are expected across parts of central and southwest Nebraska Tuesday. A High Wind Watch is in effect Tuesday for areas near and south of Interstate 80. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed through tonight. && Get your weather, hydrological, and climate information at http://www.weather.gov/northplatte Roberg
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
812 PM CST MON MAR 5 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1051 AM NON-TSTM WND GST KINGSLEY DAM 41.21N 101.66W
03/05/2018 M65 MPH KEITH NE MESONET
&&
BTAYLORThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Broken Bow ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 61 mph at 1247 am CST with a sustained winds exceeding 40 mph between 1 am and 2 am CST. These strong winds were common throughout Custer County during the early morning hours.
Nearby Imperial ASOS recorded a 58 mph wind gust at 1104 am CST. These strong northwest winds were common throughout Hayes County during the morning into the early afternoon hours.
Nearby McCook ASOS recorded a 63 mph wind gust at 1153 am CST. These strong northwest winds were common throughout Frontier County during the morning into the early afternoon hours.
Imperial ASOS recorded a 58 mph wind gust at 1004 am MST. These strong northwest winds were common throughout Chase County during the morning into the early afternoon hours.
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, March 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: 738857, 738855, 738856, 738854.