Nebraska, 2025

Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 18 to 20, 2025

February 18 to 20, 2025 · NWS LBF · 27 events in 27 counties and zones

An arctic airmass brought an extended period of bitter cold temperatures as cold as 20 to 34 below zero and dangerous wind chills as low as 30 below to around 50 below zero to all of western and north central Nebraska. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a long duration of dangerous wind chills beginning during the early morning hours on…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 27 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
27

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 LBF wrote it up.

An arctic airmass brought an extended period of bitter cold temperatures as cold as 20 to 34 below zero and dangerous wind chills as low as 30 below to around 50 below zero to all of western and north central Nebraska. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a long duration of dangerous wind chills beginning during the early morning hours on February 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. The lowest wind chill values from 40 below to 52 below zero occurred during early morning hours on February 19th and again during the early morning hours on February 20th.

What forecasters said that day

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 17, 5:20 PM CST, 6 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 17, 5:20 PM CST, 6 hours 40 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 17, 3:18 PM CST, 8 hours 42 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

27 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Lincoln

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
41.048, -100.745 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Lincoln County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 34 below zero at the North Platte ASOS at 553 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Custer

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Custer forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
41.394, -99.726 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Custer County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 43 below zero at the Broken Bow ASOS at 153 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Cherry

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Eastern Cherry forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
42.545, -101.119 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across eastern Cherry County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 48 below zero at the Valentine ASOS at 1252 am CST on February 20th and 42 below zero at 752 am CST on February 19th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Brown

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Brown forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
42.430, -99.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Brown County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 43 below zero at the Ainsworth AWOS at 215 am CST on February 20th and 38 below zero at 735 am CST on February 19th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Hayes

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Hayes forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
40.525, -101.062 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Hayes County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 30 below zero at a mesonet site near Hayes Center at 300 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Frontier

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Frontier forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
40.530, -100.394 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Frontier County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 30 below zero at a nearby mesonet site near Hayes Center at 300 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, McPherson

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
McPherson forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
41.568, -101.060 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across McPherson County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 34 below zero at the nearby North Platte ASOS at 553 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Logan

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Logan forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
41.567, -100.483 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Logan County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 34 below zero at the nearby North Platte ASOS at 553 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Blaine

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Blaine forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
41.913, -99.977 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Blaine County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 43 below zero at the nearby Broken Bow ASOS at 153 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Loup

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Loup forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
41.914, -99.454 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Loup County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 43 below zero at the nearby Broken Bow ASOS at 153 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Holt

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Holt forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
42.456, -98.784 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Holt County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 36 below zero at the O'Neill AWOS at 755 am CST on February 19th and 44 below zero at 455 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Garfield

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Garfield forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
41.914, -98.991 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Garfield County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 36 below zero at the nearby O'Neill AWOS at 755am CST on February 19th and 44 below zero at 455 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Wheeler

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Wheeler forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
41.915, -98.528 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Wheeler County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 36 below zero at the nearby O'Neill AWOS at 755am CST on February 19th and 44 below zero at 455 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Keya Paha

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Keya Paha forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
42.879, -99.712 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Keya Paha County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 41 below zero at a mesonet site near Springview at 445 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Boyd

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Boyd forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
42.900, -98.766 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Boyd County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 36 below zero at the nearby O'Neill AWOS at 755 am CST on February 19th and 44 below zero at 455 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Rock

When
February 18, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 9:00 AM CST
Where
Rock forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
42.421, -99.450 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Rock County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 20 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 38 below zero at a mesonet site 20 miles south of Long Pine at 725 am CST on February 19th and 37 below zero at 515 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Sheridan

When
February 18, 12:00 AM MST to February 20, 9:00 AM MST
Where
Sheridan forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
42.505, -102.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Sheridan County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 52 below zero at the Gordon AWOS at 615 am MST on February 19th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Cherry

When
February 18, 12:00 AM MST to February 20, 9:00 AM MST
Where
Western Cherry forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
42.545, -101.119 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across western Cherry County, a long duration of dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on January 18th through the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 41 below zero at the Merriman mesonet site at 629 am MST on February 19th and 40 below zero at 104 am MST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Thomas

When
February 19, 12:00 AM CST to February 20, 10:00 AM CST
Where
Thomas forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.914, -100.556 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Thomas County, dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on February 19th and again during the early morning hours February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 41 below zero at a mesonet site south of Thedford at 347 am CST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Arthur

When
February 19, 12:00 AM MST to February 20, 10:00 AM MST
Where
Arthur forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.569, -101.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Arthur County, dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on February 19th and again during the early morning hours February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 42 below zero at a mesonet site 8 miles south of Arthur at 235 am MST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Grant

When
February 19, 12:00 AM MST to February 20, 10:00 AM MST
Where
Grant forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.915, -101.740 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Grant County, dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on February 19th and again during the early morning hours February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 43 below zero at a mesonet site 5 miles northeast of Whitman at 355 am MST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Hooker

When
February 19, 12:00 AM MST to February 20, 10:00 AM MST
Where
Hooker forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.916, -101.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Hooker County, dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on February 19th and again during the early morning hours February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 43 below zero at a nearby mesonet site 5 miles northeast of Whitman at 355 am MST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Garden

When
February 20, 12:00 AM MST to 10:00 AM MST
Where
Garden forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.619, -102.335 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Garden County, dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 32 below zero at a mesonet site 6 miles north of Oshkosh at 1240 am MST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Deuel

When
February 20, 12:00 AM MST to 10:00 AM MST
Where
Deuel forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
41.112, -102.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Deuel County, dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 30 below zero at a mesonet site 2 miles west of Big Springs at 318 am MST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Keith

When
February 20, 12:00 AM MST to 10:00 AM MST
Where
Keith forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
41.199, -101.661 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Keith County, dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 33 below zero at the Ogallala AWOS site at 515 am MST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Perkins

When
February 20, 12:00 AM MST to 10:00 AM MST
Where
Perkins forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
40.851, -101.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Perkins County, dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 36 below zero at the Grant AWOS site at 315 am and 655 am MST on February 20th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Chase

When
February 20, 12:00 AM MST to 10:00 AM MST
Where
Chase forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
40.524, -101.698 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Across Chase County, dangerous wind chill values of 30 below or colder began during the early morning hours on February 20th. Although winds remained generally light throughout the event, winds combined to produce a lowest wind chill of 32 below zero at the Imperial ASOS site at 653 am MST on February 20th.

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Nebraska in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, February 2025

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1242196, 1242203, 1248337, 1248339, 1248342, 1248344, 1248375, 1248376, 1248377, 1248385, 1248387, 1248390, 1248391, 1248393, 1248394, 1248395, 1242141, 1248329, 1248364, 1248347, 1248353, 1248358, 1242146, 1242170, 1242182, 1242187, 1248341.