Strong northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with a gusts to around 60 mph occurred across west central, southwest, and central Nebraska during the early morning hours until the early afternoon hours on March 15th. Peak wind gusts reached 60 mph or higher at the Imperial, Broken Bow and North Platte ASOS stations.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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 of 30 to 40 mph with a gusts to around 60 mph occurred across west central, southwest, and central Nebraska during the early morning hours until the early afternoon hours on March 15th. Peak wind gusts reached 60 mph or higher at the Imperial, Broken Bow and North Platte ASOS stations.
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 15, 12:55 AM CST, 5 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service North Platte NE 155 AM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Strong north-northwesterly winds and gusts are expected across western and north central Nebraska today. Across northern Nebraska, winds combined with falling snow are expected to create near whiteout and possible blizzard conditions. - Wind chills this afternoon remain in the single digits and teens across the region. Overnight tonight, widespread subzero wind chills are expected, with the coldest wind chills around 10 to 15 below zero. - Temperatures quickly recover to above normal values by Tuesday with increased fire concerns possible for the latter half of the week. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... Issued at 154 AM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026 Colder temperatures and strong winds continue across the region today in the wake of a strong cold front. These winds bring a multifaceted weather threat today, including blowing snow and blizzard conditions, frigid wind chills, and impacts to ongoing firefighting efforts. Will break each threat down in more detail below. First, the threat for blowing snow and blizzard conditions. As of early morning, already seeing snow showers developing across far northwest Nebraska and portions of southern South Dakota. These snow showers are expected to continue across northern Nebraska, mainly areas north of Highway 2, through the early afternoon. For areas south of Highway 2, though there may be some light precipitation in the form of snow showers, accumulations are expected to be very light, generally less than one half inch, with a liquid equivalent of a few hundredths of an inch. Snow ratios transition from a 10:1 around midnight to around 20:1 overnight, as the stronger cold air advection tracks into the region. With this, expected to see snow become more dry and fluffy throughout the night into the morning, which favors a stronger blowing snow threat. Heaviest accumulations are again expected across portions of South Dakota, with a general 1 to 3 inches across far northern Nebraska. Highest accumulations are expected in north central Nebraska ranging from 2 to 4 inches, mainly in Boyd and Holt counties. With this heavy snowfall expected to be overlapping with a High Wind Warning, have made the decision to upgrade to a Blizzard Warning across Boyd and Holt counties today, where visibility is most likely to drop under one quarter mile for extended periods of the morning and afternoon. With falling snow, high winds, and fracturing snowflakes, expect whiteout conditions and hazardous travel conditions. Outside of the Blizzard Warning, a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for most of northern Nebraska into the Sandhills. Expecting less snow accumulations here and a somewhat earlier onset of precipitation. Still expecting blowing snow in these areas, with visibility under one half mile at times. However, there may still be brief periods of whiteout conditions and visibility less than one quarter mile in the Advisory. Areas in the Advisory are not expected to see these visibilities at or below one quarter mile for 3 hours or more, though, so have opted to keep them out of the Blizzard Warning. Still, the blowing snow will be a concern in the Winter Weather Advisory. This may cause some difficult travel conditions. Second, much colder temperatures are expected across the region today, along with frigid wind chills. Cold air advection across the region will bring much colder high temperatures today, with our "warmest" highs barely reaching above 32 degrees in southwest Nebraska. Across northern Nebraska, where multiple winter weather headlines are in effect, expecting highs to barely reach into the low 20s. This will be about a 30 to 40 degree difference from yesterday's high temperatures! Wind chills throughout the day only reach into the teens across southwest Nebraska and remain in the single digits across the north as strong northerly winds persist throughout the day. After a cold day, expect even colder conditions tonight into Monday morning. Overnight lows drop into the single digits across most of the region, with the high end lows around 10 degrees. Although winds are expected to decrease sometime after midnight, slightly gustier winds persist across north central Nebraska. This brings widespread subzero wind chills across the region tonight into Monday morning, with the coldest wind chills at 10 to 15 degrees below zero. This will definitely feel like a bit of a shock considering how warm we have been, so please be prepared for this major temperature difference! Thirdly, the strong winds will continue to provide a challenge to ongoing firefighting efforts across the region. Winds remain quite strong out of the north-northwest, with sustained winds of 35 to 45 mph through the morning and into the afternoon. Also expecting very strong wind gusts throughout the morning and afternoon, with widespread gusts of 50 to 65 mph. Have maintained the inherited High Wind Warning across all of western and north central Nebraska, as confidence remains high in the very strong winds and gusts today. Expecting that we will see these stronger winds eventually taper off in the late afternoon and evening, as the pressure gradient relaxes across the region. Will be keeping a close eye on winds throughout the day, as confidence in the timing for decreasing wind gusts is more of a medium confidence. By tomorrow evening, expecting most of the impactful weather will begin to settle down, with the exception of subzero windchills across the region. After a cold start Monday morning, expecting a relatively calmer day weather-wise. Highs are expected to reach into the low to mid 40s across southwest Nebraska, with cooler temperatures remaining across north central Nebraska, where highs remain in the mid 20s. Northwest winds persist on Monday, however not expecting to see gusts over 20 to 25 mph after late Monday morning. Some guidance does suggest a slight chance of very light precipitation across northwestern Nebraska Monday evening, but at this time expect that anything Monday evening would be sprinkles at best, with little to no precipitation reaching the ground. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Issued at 154 AM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026 Tuesday...amplified flow will persist through the day with steady mid-level height rises expected. Recent trends have been to carry greatest potential for precipitation in vicinity of sharp baroclinic zone further north and east where greatest warm air advection (WAA) overruns the cooler low-level air. This largely keeps the daytime dry though some modest probabilities continue to be hinted at by the EPS for north central Nebraska. This appears to largely focus in the early morning hours but for now will maintain the inherited forecast with dry conditions beyond the morning. As alluded to, WAA will be on the increase as a warm front lifts north and east. This results in much warmer temperatures across western Nebraska with highs returning to the middle 70s in the southwest and middle 50s to the northeast. Westerly winds will increase behind the front with drier air infiltrating much of the area. As a result, fire weather concerns will likely be on the increase again and should reach elevated to near-critical criteria for portions of southwest Nebraska into the Panhandle. Wednesday and beyond...mid-level heights continue to build in from the southwest as anomalous ridging settles over the Desert Southwest. Both GFS/ECMWF advertise h5 heights of 590+ hPa which surpasses the NAEFS model climatology for the time frame. These positive height anomalies will move into western Nebraska towards Thursday, as warm temperatures colocated with the strong high pressure aloft begin to influence local weather. This pattern tends to favor persistent dry and latest Climate Prediction Center outlooks echo that with fairly strong leans to below normal precipitation. ECWMF Extreme Forecast Index continues to highlight each day Wednesday through Saturday as seeing highly anomalous warmth as each day sees values of +0.8 or higher along with non-zero Shift of Tails. Current forecast highs fall below the 25th percentile in NBM output so it's expected these should climb in the coming days. Even utilization 25th Percentile output for daily highs would put us in record territory for many western Nebraska climate sites. Cooler temperatures should return sometime during the following weekend as ridge breakdown begins and a disturbance will approach from the northwest. NWP guidance varies in the extended on evolution of the upper pattern, so confidence in precise details is limited. NBM inner-quartile spread grows considerably, exceeding 15F by Saturday, further emphasizing the uncertainty. For now, will hedge towards the warmer outputs in line with forecast persistence and continue to monitor. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/... Issued at 1250 AM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026 A strong front continues to track through western Nebraska and will bring increasing impacts to western Nebraska terminals. The main concern will be the threat for moderate snow within strong winds leading to significant visibility issues at northern terminals. This includes VTN, where prevailing 2SM was mentioned but a TEMPO group added to include potential of LIFR visibilities. Confidence in seeing this be persistent enough to warrant a prevailing mention was too low at this time. Winds will ramp up over the first few hours of the period and gusts will likely approach 40 knots at times. Similar mention was made at LBF, with steady north-northwest winds overnight and a slight boost after daybreak to near 50 knot max gusts. Recent short- term guidance suggests a brief window for light snow but this should be short on the order of a few hours before departing. Skies should open up later in the day with a return to VFR conditions likely and gradually diminishing gusts towards the end of the forecast period. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning until 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ this evening for NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094. Winter Weather Advisory until 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ this evening for NEZ004>006-008-009-026>029-094. Blizzard Warning until 7 PM CDT this evening for NEZ007-010. && SHORT TERM...Richie LONG TERM...NMJ AVIATION...NMJ
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service North Platte NE 208 PM CDT Sat Mar 14 2026 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-151915- 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- 208 PM CDT Sat Mar 14 2026 /108 PM MDT Sat Mar 14 2026/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of western and north central Nebraska. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight. Accumulating snow returns tonight as a winter system tracks through the region. Snowfall up to 3 inches is possible in locations along and north of US-20. Winter headlines are now in effect for portions of northern Nebraska where the highest snowfall accumulations are expected. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday. Gusty winds return on Sunday with gusts up to 70 mph across portions of southwest and north central Nebraska. These winds combined with falling snow across northern Nebraska will create areas of blowing and drifting snow as well as reduced visibility. A High Wind Warning is now in effect for the entire forecast area. Wind chill values will drop into the 15 to 19 below zero range across northern Nebraska on Sunday night and into Monday morning. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to around 50 mph or higher were common across Hayes County during the early morning hours into the mid afternoon hours. The nearby Imperial ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 60 mph at 545 am and 955 am MST.
Northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to around 50 mph or higher were common across Chase County during the early morning hours into the mid afternoon hours. The Imperial ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 60 mph at 545 am and 955 am MST.
Northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to around 50 mph or higher were common across Keith County during the morning hours into the mid afternoon hours. A mesonet site 4 miles southwest of Brule recorded a peak wind gust of 63 mph at 227 am MST. The nearby North Platte ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 63 mph at 1107 am CST.
Northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to around 50 mph or higher were common across Perkins County during the early morning hours into the mid afternoon hours. A mesonet site 1 mile east of Grant recorded a peak wind gust of 60 mph at 813 am MST. The nearby Imperial ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 60 mph at 545 am and 955 am MST.
Northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to around 50 mph or higher were common across Logan County during the morning hours into the mid afternoon hours. The nearby North Platte ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 63 mph at 1107 am CST.
Northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to around 50 mph or higher were common across McPherson County during the morning hours into the mid afternoon hours. A mesonet site 3 miles east southeast of Tryon recorded a peak wind gust of 56 mph at 505 am CST. The nearby North Platte ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 63 mph at 1107 am CST.
Northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to around 50 mph or higher were common across Lincoln County during the morning hours into the mid afternoon hours. The North Platte ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 63 mph at 1107 am CST.
Northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to around 50 mph or higher were common across Frontier County during the morning hours into the mid afternoon hours. The nearby McCook ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 60 mph 907 am CST. The nearby North Platte ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 63 mph at 1107 am CST.
Northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts to around 50 mph or higher were common across Cuter County during the early hours into the mid afternoon hours. The Broken Bow ASOS recorded a peak wind gust of 61 mph at 517 am CST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, March 2026
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: 1317933, 1317918, 1317919, 1317920, 1317914, 1317916, 1317917, 1317937, 1317942.