Blizzard — Keya Paha, Nebraska

2022-12-13 to 2022-12-16 · Keya Paha, Nebraska

Event narrative

Blizzard conditions occurred across Keya Paha County as northwest winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph caused widespread blowing and drifting and visibility of a quarter mile or less at times. A Cooperative observer 2 miles northwest of Springview reported 6 inches of snowfall. Snowfall amounts ranged from 4 to 10 inches. Blizzard conditions began at 2am CST on December 14th and continued until 11am December 16th. All roads across Brown County were closed during this time.

Wider weather episode

A powerful storm system brought Blizzard conditions to the western Sandhills into portions of southwest and north central Nebraska. Winter Storm conditions occurred to the east across portions of west central Nebraska into eastern portions of north central Nebraska. Northeast winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to around 40 mph combined with moderate to heavy snowfall to produce blizzard conditions. These blizzard conditions began during the early morning hours on December 13th and continued into the morning hours on December 16th in some counties. Winter Storm conditions began during the morning hours of December 13th and continued until the morning hours on December 16th in eastern portions of north central Nebraska. Snowfall amounts ranged from 8 to 15 inches across the northwest Sandhills and from 5 to 8 inches further south and east. Significant blowing and drifting occurred with near zero visibility a times. All roads across the western Sandhills and much of north central Nebraska were closed during this time.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1066122. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.