Winter Weather — Franklin, Nebraska

2023-12-02 · Franklin, Nebraska

Event narrative

The highest reported snowfall totals included 4.5 inches from Upland and 4.0 inches from Bloomington and Naponee.

Wider weather episode

Mainly between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on this Saturday, a sneaky mesoscale snow band flared up across limited portions of South Central Nebraska, dumping as much as 2-5 inches of slushy/wet snow along a southwest-northeast oriented swath only 10-20 miles wide (if even that)...roughly centered along a line from Republican City-Campbell-Juniata-Doniphan. Although snowfall amounts in the heart of this band solidly exceeded forecast expectations of 1 or less, impacts were held in check, due in part to light winds only around 10 MPH. Per a limited number of mainly NeRAIN and social media reports, along with NOHRSC analysis, some of the highest reported snow totals featured: 5.0 in Republican City and six miles north of Campbell, 4.5 at Harlan County Lake dam, 4.0 in Naponee and Bloomington, and between 3.0 and 3.2 within western through north central Adams County (including the Roseland and Juniata areas). Just outside the heart of the main band, lesser totals of no more than 1-2 prevailed in places such as Hastings and Orleans, while amounts under 1 were noted farther northeast along this precipitation axis in locations including Grand Island, Central City and Osceola. Even where the heaviest amounts fell, snow cover did not last very long, with some of it melting already on the afternoon of the 2nd after precipitation ended (temperatures rose to at least 35 degrees F), and the remainder of it disappearing on the 3rd (high temps mainly 40s F).

Taking a closer look at the meteorological background and event timing, and starting in the mid-upper levels, the main player was a broad shortwave trough that traversed the heart of the Central Plains from west-to-east during the calendar day of the 2nd. Looking into the lower levels, this mesoscale snow band was clearly tied to the development of a narrow stripe of frontogenesis particularly evident between 700-850 millibars. At and near the surface, the temperature profile was just cold enough to support wet snowfall, with temperatures hovering mainly between 29-32 F as it fell. The initial onset of narrow snow banding got underway mainly between 8-10 a.m. within Furnas, Harlan and Franklin counties. Over the next few hours, this snow swath expanded northeastward into especially southeastern Kearney and western/northern Adams counties. During the early-mid afternoon hours, snow migrated northeastward into parts of especially Hall, Hamilton, Merrick and Polk counties, but with accumulation more muted thanks to at-or-slightly above freezing temperatures melting much of it as it fell. The final flakes of the day gradually departed far northeastern local counties (such as Polk/Merrick/York) between 4-6 p.m.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1146756. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.