Winter Storm — Richardson, Nebraska

2025-01-05 to 2025-01-06 · Richardson, Nebraska

Event narrative

The first reports of winter storm criteria snowfall being reached came to the office just before noon on the 5th. By the end of the event, the office received numerous reports from the county from the public, trained spotters, and emergency management of snowfall ranging from 7 inches to 16 inches, with the highest snowfall reports coming out of Falls City.

Wider weather episode

On January 4th, upper-level analysis showed a potent shortwave trough positioned over the northern Rockies. The night of the 4th and into the 5th, this trough amplified as it dove southeast into the central CONUS. At the surface, a low-pressure developed in the Texas Panhandle around midnight on January 5th. During the day on the 5th and into the 6th, this surface low tracked east along a baroclinic zone across the state of Oklahoma and into the lower-Mississippi River Valley.

A widespread region of blizzard conditions developed across Kansas on the northwest side of this storm system. However, a strong arctic high pressure in the northern Great Plains and the upper Midwest led to strong dry air intrusion into much of the Omaha/Valley National Weather Service forecast area. This resulted in a very sharp cut-off in snowfall amounts across southeast Nebraska. Nonetheless, winter storm conditions were experienced near the Nebraska-Kansas border. The highest snowfall amounts were observed in southeastern Richardson County, where upwards of 16 inches of snow fell.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1223434. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.