Heavy Snow — Dawes, Nebraska

2023-12-25 to 2023-12-27 · Dawes, Nebraska

Event narrative

Numerous COOP, CoCoRaHS, and spotter reports of 9 to 16 inches of snowfall near Chadron. Highest report of 16.5 inches was from 11 miles south of Chadron along the Pine Ridge.

Wider weather episode

A strong cutoff upper level low across the central US began retrograding westward with wrap around moisture and strong winds leading to heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions, especially along the Pine and Cheyenne Ridges in the Nebraska Panhandle. Snowfall persisted longest near the Pine Ridge where the Chadron area received 10 to 16 inches of snowfall. Further south near Kimball and Sidney, snowfall totals ranged from 4 to 9 inches with strong winds gusting 50 to 60 mph leading to low visibility and blizzard conditions.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1146221. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.