Extreme Cold/Wind Chill — Box Butte, Nebraska

2022-12-21 to 2022-12-23 · Box Butte, Nebraska

Event narrative

Overnight low temperatures fell to around -20 F across Box Butte County from 12/21 into 12/22, with daytime highs generally remaining above -5 F during the afternoon on 12/22. Sustained winds 15-25 MPH resulted in a prolonged period of extreme wind chills under -30 F. The most extreme wind chills occurred between 8:00 PM MST on 12/21 and 12:00 PM MST on 12/22. The Alliance Airport ASOS (KAIA) recorded a wind chill of -50 F between 12:00 AM and 3:30 AM MST on 12/22. Minimum observed wind chill values reached -52 F at NB033 (Flaherty's Corner Highway 71, 19 ESE of Agate) at 2:05 AM MST on 12/22.

Wider weather episode

An intense arctic cold front tracked rapidly from north to south across western Nebraska during the morning and afternoon hours on 12/21. Numerous records were set for the most rapid and extreme temperature drops in history. Morning low temperatures fell to -20 to -40 degrees F across the western Nebraska Panhandle on 12/22, with many sites remaining below zero through the day. Wind chills plummeted to between -45 and -65 degrees F for many. The cold frontal passage on 12/21 was also accompanied by scattered snow showers and locally intense snow squalls, resulting in a period of extremely low visibilities and dangerous travel conditions due to a flash freeze.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1062780. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.