The coldest air of the season dove south and encased south central Nebraska in a wintry icebox of extreme cold, wind and light snow. This entry focuses more on the extreme cold/wind chill than the snow.
Every event with a place to put it; 24 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 GID wrote it up.
The coldest air of the season dove south and encased south central Nebraska in a wintry icebox of extreme cold, wind and light snow. This entry focuses more on the extreme cold/wind chill than the snow. For more detailed impacts of snow, see the Winter Weather event entry dated February 17-18.
Though already pretty cold and snowy across the area from three winter events in a week, this was next-level cold in terms of temperatures and wind chill. The drop in temperatures started on the 17th and continued through the 20th. In some cases, record setting cold occurred. Grand Island and Hastings both set daily record low temperatures. Hastings dropped to -17 (19th) and -20 (20th) respectively, while Grand Island bottomed out at -21 (19th) and -23 (20th). Both cities also set record daily minimum high temperatures (i.e., record low-highs ). On the 18th, neither city reached zero degrees, as Hastings topped out at -2 and Grand Island -3. It was only a bit better on the 19th when Grand Island reached -1 and Hastings topped out at 1 degree above zero. The morning of February 20th was the coldest morning. In general, nearly all reporting stations in south central Nebraska were at least -20 or colder. The NWS Cooperative Observer near Oxford had the coldest low temperature of -33, while Greeley bottomed out at -31 and Ord -30.
However, midwesterners like to say it's not the cold, it's the wind , and that certainly was the case with this polar plunge. Extreme Cold Warnings were hoisted for the entire area as north winds of 15-20 mph gusted over 25 mph at times. The cold and wind combination resulted in plummeting wind chills. As early as the 18th, wind chills were solidly at 30 degrees below zero or colder at most locations. Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) automated weather sites near Shelton and Clay Center both recorded wind chills of 39 degrees below zero on the 18th.
It would only get worse the next night as air temperatures took the proverbial nosedive . Prior to dawn on February 20, many locations reported chill factors colder than -40! The coldest wind chill of -55 occurred near Shelton at 5:36 AM LT. An automated NDOT weather site recorded a wind chill of -54 shortly after 7 AM near Elm Creek. A wind chill of -44 was recorded at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport near Grand Island. This was the 4th time in the last 5 years the wind chill at Grand Island had dropped to -40 or colder.
No location was spared the extreme cold. Nearly every school in south central Nebraska cancelled classes due to the cold weather on the 19th and 20th. Many local activities and events were also canceled or postponed.
With a fresh blanket of snow across most of south central Nebraska, conditions were just right for the extreme cold as a 1044 MB surface high pressure settled across the area.
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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 17, 5:40 PM CST, 20 minutes earlier.
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</html>Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Hastings NE 238 PM CST Mon Feb 17 2025 KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087- 181200- Phillips-Smith-Jewell-Rooks-Osborne-Mitchell-Valley-Greeley-Nance- Sherman-Howard-Merrick-Polk-Dawson-Buffalo-Hall-Hamilton-York- Gosper-Phelps-Kearney-Adams-Clay-Fillmore-Furnas-Harlan-Franklin- Webster-Nuckolls-Thayer- 238 PM CST Mon Feb 17 2025 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for south central Nebraska and portions of north central Kansas. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight. Areas of light to at times moderate snow will persist across much of the outlook area through tonight. Bitterly cold air building into the area will result in widespread wind chill values of -20 to -30 degrees tonight. A Winter Weather Advisory and Extreme Cold Warning remain in effect through tonight. Please refer to the latest Advisory and Warning statements for more information. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Light to moderate snow will continue through Tuesday. Widespread storm total accumulations of 2 to 5 inches are expected by Tuesday evening, with lowest amounts northeast of the Tri-Cities, and heaviest amounts, perhaps locally as high as 5 to 6 inches, along and south of the state line. A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect through 6PM Tuesday, please refer to the latest Advisory statement for more information Prolonged dangerously cold air and wind chill temperatures will persist through much of the upcoming week. Wind chills of -10 to -30 degrees are expected during the entire time frame from Tuesday through Thursday morning, and an Extreme Cold Warning remains in effect for the entire forecast area. Please refer to the latest Warning statement for more information. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are encouraged to report hazardous travel conditions and snowfall amounts. && More information may be obtained at the following web page: https://www.weather.gov/hastings
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
24 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -44 degrees by the Ord Airport ASOS.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -44 degrees by a Nebraska Mesonet station located three miles west of Central City and -37 degrees by a mesonet station located near Palmer.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -46 degrees by the Lexington Airport AWOS, -46 degrees by a Nebraska Mesonet station located four miles south of Lexington, and -44 degrees by a Nebraska Mesonet station located two miles northwest of Gothenburg.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -55 and -49 degrees by mesonets in the Shelton area and -43 degrees by the Kearney Airport AWOS.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -49 degrees by a mesonet station located near Wood River, -43 degrees by the Grand Island Airport ASOS and a mesonet station located near Alda. New record temperatures included the following: Cold High Temperature of -3 degrees on the 18th; Cold High Temperature of -1 degree on the 19th; Low Temperature of -21 degrees on the 19th; Low Temperature of -24 degrees on the 20th.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -42 degrees by the Aurora Airport AWOS.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -43 degrees by the York Airport AWOS.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -38 degrees by a Nebraska Mesonet station located two miles east of Smithfield.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -45 degrees by a Nebraska Mesonet station located six miles southeast of Overton and -40 degrees by a Nebraska Mesonet station located five miles north of Holdrege.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -43 degrees by a Nebraska Mesonet station located five miles northeast of Axtell and -42 degrees by a mesonet station located near Heartwell.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -44 degrees by a mesonet station located near Ayr and -37 degrees by the Hastings Airport ASOS. New record temperatures included the following: Cold High Temperature of -2 degrees on the 18th; Cold High Temperature of 1 degree on the 19th; Low Temperature of -17 degrees on the 19th; Low Temperature of -20 degrees on the 20th.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -40 degrees by a mesonet station located near Edgar.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -41 degrees by mesonet stations located near Grafton and Fairmont and -39 degrees from a mesonet station located near Fairmont.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -43 degrees by mesonet stations located near Oxford and Arapahoe.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -38 degrees by a Nebraska Mesonet station located three miles east of Guide Rock.
Some of the coldest wind chills of the event were recorded across the county, including -37 degrees by a mesonet station located near Davenport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, February 2025
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1241192, 1241193, 1241194, 1241195, 1241196, 1241197, 1241198, 1241199, 1241200, 1241201, 1241202, 1241203, 1241204, 1241205, 1241206, 1241207, 1241208, 1241209, 1241210, 1241211, 1241212, 1241213, 1241214, 1241215.