Extreme Cold/Wind Chill in Nebraska
Every extreme cold/wind chill event the National Weather Service has filed in Nebraska, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.
The most significant on the map
The most significant extreme cold/wind chill episodes in Nebraska.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 1,027
- Deaths
- 2
- Injuries
- 24
- Damage
- None recorded
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Nebraska, January 6 to 8, 2010This was the third winter storm in a month that hit eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa and was caused by an upper level disturbance that dropped out of Canada and closed off over the central plains before moving off to the east.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, January 12 to 16, 2024On the evening of January 12th, an arctic cold front associated with a powerful winter storm pushed south across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Behind this front, a strong cold-core high pressure system moved into the central and northern Plains.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, January 22 to 23, 2003Bitter cold wind chills spread over eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa during late Wednesday afternoon 1/22/03 continuing into late Thursday morning the 23rd.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 19 to 20, 2025On the evening on February 19, extreme cold pushed into all of eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa. Wind chills fell into the 30 to 45 below 0 range. One fatality occurred in Omaha, where an 86 year old woman was found dead in a garage due to suspected cold exposure.
- Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 1 to 2, 2011A large upper level system dropped southeast from the northern Rockies and then split into two pieces, one tracked across the central plains while the other drifted southwest across the southwestern U.S.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Nebraska, December 14 to 15, 2008An Arctic cold front pushed across eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa during the early morning hours of December 14th.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Nebraska, December 20 to 21, 2008An upper level disturbance tracking across the northern plains brought a period of snow to eastern Nebraska and western Iowa followed by an Arctic cold front which brought plunging temperatures and gusty winds.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, December 18 to 19, 2000This event was a continuation of the winter storm that hit parts of eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa from late Sunday 12/17/00 into Monday 12/18/00. Northwest winds decreased to 15 to 25 mph across the area from Monday evening into early Tuesday morning 12/19/00.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, December 16 to 17, 2000This event was a continuation of the winter storm which impacted eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa Saturday 12/16/00.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, January 5 to 6, 2014Arctic high pressure pushed down into the central U.S. on January 5th and 6th bringing wind chill values of 25 below to 35 below zero or colder from the afternoon of the 5th through the afternoon of the 6th over eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 14 to 16, 2021A three day stretch of cold weather resulted in several record cold temperatures were set. Wind chill temperatures between -30F and -40F were observed across most of the area.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, December 21 to 23, 2022A cold air outbreak resulted in low temperatures between -20 and -10 December 22 and 23. On Thursday Dec 23, most ground stations in the area did not observe a high temperature above 0 . Strong wind gusts were observed all 3 days with the strongest gusts occurring on Dec 23.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 1 to 2, 2011A bitter cold arctic air mass with temperatures mainly in the single digits below zero combined with northwest winds of 20 to 40 mph during overnight and morning hours on February 1st and again during the overnight hours on February 2nd as temperatures dropped to 10 to 15 below…
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, December 21 to 24, 2022An arctic airmass brought very cold temperatures as cold as 10 below to 20 below and dangerous wind chills as low as 39 below to 54 below zero to all of western and north central Nebraska.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, January 12 to 16, 2024Two consecutive arctic airmasses brought an extended period of bitter cold temperatures as cold as 10 below to 25 below zero and dangerous wind chills as low as 30 below to around 50 below zero to all of western and north central Nebraska.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 18 to 20, 2025An 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.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 14 to 16, 2021Bitterly cold temperatures combined with northwesterly wind of 5 to 15 mph to produce dangerous wind chill values as low as 45 below across most of western and north central Nebraska from the early morning hours February 15th through mid morning hours on the 16th.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, October 8 to 9, 2000After a week of record warmth, record cold weather invaded south-central Nebraska and brought to an end the 2000 growing season. For two consecutive mornings, low temperature records were broken, in some cases by 13 degrees.
- Extreme Cold and Cold in Nebraska, February 20, 2008Arctic high pressure that surged south across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa Tuesday evening February 19th, brought dangerously cold wind chill values to the region Wednesday morning February 20th.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, December 24 to 31, 2017Weather-wise, the end of 2017 across South Central Nebraska will be most-remembered for bitter cold.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, March 3 to 4, 2019Bitterly cold temperatures combined with northwesterly wind of 5 to 15 mph to produce dangerous wind chill values as low as 40 below across most of western and north central Nebraska from March 3rd into the 4th.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 7 to 16, 2021Mid-February 2021 unleashed a relentless blast of brutal cold, the likes of which South Central Nebraska had not endured in several decades.
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, December 21 to 24, 2022Based solely on wind chill values, South Central Nebraska endured one of its overall most significant, but brief cold blasts of the last 30+ years during these days shortly before Christmas, with the harshest wind chills focused between the evening of the 21st and the morning of…
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, January 11 to 20, 2024Mid-January 2024 struck South Central Nebraska with a fierce onslaught of bitterly cold temperatures/wind chills along with several rounds of snow, although temperature-wise, this cold air outbreak was ultimately just a bump in the road during an otherwise very mild…
- Extreme Cold in Nebraska, February 17 to 20, 2025The 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.
More
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill everywhereEvery kind of event in Nebraska
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.