A winter storm brought heavy snow during the evening hours on February 5th into the morning hours February 6th. Total snowfall amounts ranged from 3 to 8 inches.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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.
A winter storm brought heavy snow during the evening hours on February 5th into the morning hours February 6th. Total snowfall amounts ranged from 3 to 8 inches.
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 Feb 5, 8:52 PM CST, 8 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service North Platte NE 852 PM CST Fri Feb 5 2021 .UPDATE... Issued at 852 PM CST Fri Feb 5 2021 A forecast update is in place for temperatures using hourly forecast temperatures derived from the short term model blend plus bias correction, the RAP model plus bias correction and the HRRR model without bias correction. This lowers highs Saturday a few degrees and attempts to capture the arctic air progressing south through nrn Nebraska this evening. The rest of the forecast is on track. The evening models appear to be tracking the highest snowfall amounts through the Sandhills as predicted. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Saturday night) Issued at 309 PM CST Fri Feb 5 2021 The primary forecast challenge centers on the threat for multiple rounds of accumulating snow this weekend, and temperatures through next week. Winter Weather Advisories remain in effect overnight tonight with the addition of a Winter Storm Warning for Custer County. Not much has changed with respect to the overall pattern across much of the CONUS with a large-scale trough pivoting across the northern Great Lakes and highly amplified flow upstream of this feature with a building ridge off the West Coast. Caught in between these features, the local area is seeing the influence of an upper-level jet as it slides just to the south. At the surface, the Arctic cold front bisects the area in half oriented northwest to southeast with highs only in the 20s and clouds as of 20z to the northeast with upper 30s to low 40s across the southwest. This front will continue to stall this afternoon but should see a renewed southward push as a quick diving clipper system approaches the area late this evening. As this moves south, mid-level fgen will increase quickly from 03z to 09z which will tap into PWAT values which climb to the 0.25-0.35" range. While this isn't overly impressive, the forecast forcing for ascent is expected to be rather strong which will allow forecast QPF values to overachieve. Indeed, numerical guidance has started to hone in on a consensus that paints a stripe of liquid precipitation exceeding 0.3". This is in good alignment with the latest NAM and Canadian output, SREF/HREF probabilities, as well as latest high res guidance. While the GFS remains the furthest south with its output and therefore is considered the outlier, the ECMWF has trended upwards with its QPF output and aligns with the aforementioned list in terms of location. Greatest uncertainty with snow amounts will exist along the southern edge of the snow gradient with increasing confidence north across the Sandhills. Subsequent shifts will have to monitor closely for any southward shift towards the fairly resolute GFS output. As for snow amounts...given the magnitude of cold air in place, expecting SLR ratios to exceed climatological values and will likely climb above the 75th percentile. This puts much of the area in the 16:1 to 18:1 range with some guidance even suggesting making a run at 20:1. This is plausible given a deep DGZ and strong lift originating in this zone. Will not go this aggressive, however. Even with the lower SLR values, snow amounts should lead to widespread 2-5" total accumulations with a small area approaching 4-7" limited to Custer County. As a result, opted to continue the Winter Weather Advisory across the area with the lone change being to upgrade Custer County to Winter Storm Warning after coordination with eastern offices. Winds aren't likely to be overly strong with this event, peaking around the 10 to 20 mph range overnight which should limit the blowing snow potential. Snow will wind down through the late morning hours as the focus shifts to the east and fgen rapidly diminishes. Morning lows Saturday will fall into the single digits to teens across the area with wind chills as cold as 5 to 15 below zero possible with the coldest values expected across far north central Nebraska. Expect a break from the snow during the bulk of the daytime on Saturday. Highs should only reach the low teens to low 30s northeast to southwest. Snow will renew late Saturday evening as a second mid- level disturbance moves overhead. Similar to the first round, forcing will largely come from increasing fgen and warm air advection. Moisture will be a little more limited and focus for this lift will be further north than the previous round. New snow accumulations will generally fall in the 2-4" range therefore will have to monitor this for additional winter weather headlines but will forego any issuance at this time to not mix messaging with the first round. Snow will linger into early Sunday morning with lows dropping a further 5 degrees across the board. Snow will diminish slowly through the day Sunday, with the last of the potential ending for areas north of Highway 92 by early evening. Can't rule out some light snow persisting later, but confidence is low at this time. Highs Sunday will be similar to what was seen Saturday, ranging from around 10 in the northeast to around 30 in the southwest which will likely be the last day of seeing temperatures approach the freezing mark for an appreciable amount of time. .LONG TERM...(Sunday through Friday) Issued at 309 PM CST Fri Feb 5 2021 Beginning 00z Monday. The region remains entrenched in northwesterly flow for Monday through the middle part of next week. Strong surface high pressure will settle into the area from eastern Montana which will only reinforce the cold air expected to move in. Sunday night into Monday, will be watching for some light snow to develop on the leading edge of the surface high pressure system. Moisture will be fairly limited so any snow amounts are expected to remain fairly light. Daytime highs will top out in the single digits to low teens Monday through Wednesday, which is 25 to 35 degrees below normal each day. Morning lows will fall below zero across the area, even approach the negative teens. This alone is enough to cause concern for extreme cold across the area. Though no one day appears to be overly windy, any wind developing will only exacerbate the cold by introducing wind chill values falling into the -20s. At this moment, no one day appears to be overly breezy given persistent high pressure in place across the local area and eastward. In summary...while cold temperatures are confident at this time the precise wind chill values remain in flux somewhat and are lower confidence. Either way, prolonged exposure to the expected air temperatures alone will be enough to cause problems to anyone not properly prepared so plan on limiting outdoor exposure and layering up each morning through the extended period. Reinforcing cold air arrives on Thursday with the approach of another surface high in the 1035-1045 hPa range. As a result, expecting the coldest day of the week on Thursday. We could see additional light snow across our southwest zones Thursday into Friday, but differences between the main model outputs remain and ensemble guidance isn't highlighting any one particular period as a slam dunk so will keep inherited PoPs of less than 20% as they are. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Saturday evening) Issued at 534 PM CST Fri Feb 5 2021 The area of IFR/LIFR in snow and low ceilings near KIBM will move east and expand north and south across wrn Nebraska by 06z, and ncntl Nebraska by 08z. This area of snow and low ceilings/vsby will exit wrn and ncntl Nebraska by 12z Saturday. Areas of MVFR/local IFR ceilings are expected across wrn and ncntl Nebraska throughout day Saturday. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 9 AM CST /8 AM MST/ Saturday for NEZ005-008>010-023>029-035>037-057-059-094. Winter Storm Warning until 9 AM CST Saturday for NEZ038. && UPDATE...CDC SHORT TERM...NMJ LONG TERM...NMJ AVIATION...CDC
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service North Platte NE 339 PM CST Fri Feb 5 2021 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- 339 PM CST Fri Feb 5 2021 /239 PM MST Fri Feb 5 2021/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of western and north central Nebraska. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. A winter storm warning has been issued for Custer county. Snow is expected with accumulations of 4 to 7 inches with locally higher amounts possible. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for portions of north central, southwest and western Nebraska for tonight through Saturday morning. Areas within the advisory will see 2 to 5 inches of snowfall. Accumulating snowfall is possible outside the advisory area, generally 2 inches or less. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. Snow ends Saturday morning with snowfall totals within the advisory of 2 to 5 inches and 4 to 7 inches in Custer county. Another round of snow is possible Saturday night into Sunday and again Sunday afternoon through Monday morning. Accumulating snowfall is expected Saturday night into Sunday. At this time, accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are possible. Frigid temperatures are expected this weekend into next week as the area will see its coldest temperatures so far this winter season. Wind chills during the morning hours, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, will range from 10 below zero to as much as 25 below zero. .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.
6 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter located near Ringgold reported 6 inches of snowfall. Snowfall amounts across McPherson County ranged from 5 to 7 inches on February 6th.
A trained spotter located 8 miles west southwest of Stapleton reported 5.5 inches of snowfall. Snowfall amounts across Logan County ranged from 5 to 7 inches on February 6th.
The official observation at the North Platte Weather Service reported 6.4 inches of snowfall. A CoCoRaHS observer located 2 miles west of North Platte reported 7 inches of snowfall . Total snowfall amounts across Lincoln County ranged from 4 to 7 inches on February 6th.
A CoCoRaHS observer located near Merna reported 7 inches of snowfall. Total snowfall amounts across Custer County ranged from 4 to 7 inches on February 6th.
A Cooperative Observer located in Arthur reported 6.2 inches of snowfall. Snowfall amounts across Arthur County ranged from 5 to 7 inches on February 6th.
General public located 16 miles southwest of Mullen reported 5.5 inches of snowfall. Snowfall amounts across Hooker County ranged from 5 to 7 inches on February 6th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, February 2021
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: 936617, 936620, 936621, 936622, 936618, 936619.