Winter Weather in Nebraska, January 21, 2019

Name: Winter Weather in Nebraska, January 21, 2019
Start: 2019-01-21T09:00
End: 2019-01-21T20:00
Location: Nebraska

January 21, 2019 · NWS GID · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

A moisture-starved, weak low pressure system dropped narrow bands of 3 to 4 inches of snow over a few communities on this Tuesday. This event really evolved as two separate areas of snow.

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS GID wrote it up.

A moisture-starved, weak low pressure system dropped narrow bands of 3 to 4 inches of snow over a few communities on this Tuesday. This event really evolved as two separate areas of snow. During the early to mid morning hours, a very narrow southwest-northeast oriented band of snow developed from eastern Colorado across northwest Kansas into southwest Nebraska. By late morning, this band moved into south central Nebraska from Johnson Lake to Miller to Loup City. This band gradually progressed eastward across south central Nebraska between 10 AM and midnight. This band was only two counties wide, but at times, there was an embedded band of heavy snow that was much more narrow, well less than one county wide. As this band initially moved into south central Nebraska, it was nearly stationary for about 3 hours from Cambridge to Elwood to Overton to Amherst. These locations are where the greatest snow amounts fell in association with this band. Three to five inches of snow was reported, with a maximum of 6 inches estimated in Cambridge. The visibility was estimated as low as 1/16 mi in heavy snow at Overton and Amherst. As this band moved east, its forward progress limited accumulations to 1 to 2 inches, and even less than 1 inch in some places. This snow band developed within the upper-level trough. The other area of snow developed in the late morning hours from central Kansas into southeast Nebraska. This band was a bit wider and was a poorly-organized deformation band and it deposited 3 to 4 inches of snow over eastern Nuckolls, Thayer, and southern Fillmore counties. Throughout this event, the character of all the radar returns, from both areas of snow, was so poorly-organized that the snow bands exhibited a skeletal structure.

At the surface, a weak low pressure system emerged from Colorado and moved east through Kansas. This low never had a closed isobar. In the upper-levels a positively-tilted trough was over Colorado and New Mexico at daybreak. This trough advanced into Nebraska, Kansas and extreme western Texas by sunset. This was the primary trough over the CONUS, with a ridge over the eastern Pacific and a ridge along the East Coast.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Dawson

When: January 21, 9:00 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Dawson forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.870, -99.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Buffalo

When: January 21, 9:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Buffalo forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.855, -99.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Gosper

When: January 21, 9:00 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Gosper forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 40.515, -99.831 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Phelps

When: January 21, 10:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Phelps forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.511, -99.414 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Furnas

When: January 21, 10:00 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Furnas forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 40.177, -99.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Fillmore

When: January 21, 10:00 AM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where: Fillmore forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.525, -97.596 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Thayer

When: January 21, 10:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Thayer forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 40.176, -97.595 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Nuckolls

When: January 21, 10:00 AM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where: Nuckolls forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 40.176, -98.047 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Nebraska in 2019 Every state in 2019 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, January 2019

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 798983, 798984, 798985, 798986, 798987, 798988, 798989, 798990.