Winter Weather — Furnas, Nebraska

2025-02-17 to 2025-02-18 · Furnas, Nebraska

Event narrative

Snowfall totals across the county were generally in the 2 to 5 inch range, with the highest reported total of 4.3 inches from the NWS Cooperative Observer located six miles north-northwest of Oxford.

Wider weather episode

The third winter weather system in a week brought the harshest set of winter conditions of the season to south central Nebraska in terms of snow and cold both. This entry focuses more on the snow than the cold. For more detailed impacts of the cold, see the 'Extreme Cold/Wind Chill' event entry dated February 17-20.

Regarding the snow, a general 2 to 6 inch snowfall fell beginning during the day on the 17th and wrapping up around midday on the 18th. Snow amounts were driven by the longer nature of the event (36 hours) rather than snow intensity. However, there were bursts of heavier snow, largely during the day on the 17th, followed by a 'lull' in the action during the evening and overnight, before some more steady snow moved across the area on the 18th. As temperatures dropped well below zero, winds remained steady in the 15 to 20 mph range, with gusts at times over 25 mph. This resulted in occasional visibility restrictions of less than one mile at times. While most snow amounts were less than 6 inches, there were a few outliers, such as near Orleans where 6.6' of accumulation was measured and at the NWS Cooperative Observer site southeast of Lexington where 6.2' of snow fell. A CoCoRAHs site in Dawson county southwest of Lexington reported 6.5' of snow. Elsewhere, 5 inches of snow was a common report, including at Superior, near Gresham, Central City and Genoa. The Central Nebraska Regional Airport northeast of Grand Island reported 4.8' of snow and the NWS office in Hastings measured 4.4'. The lightest snow amounts generally feel east/southeast of Hastings in Thayer and Fillmore Counties.

This event was driven by another shortwave moving through a broad cyclonic upper level flow. Unlike the previous two events, this upper flow was a bit more from the north/northwest, which helped filter the extreme cold farther south. Low level moisture was sparse due to the extreme cold, but mid-level was plentiful and the primary source for the longer duration event. Mid-level frontogenesis was most pronounced in the 700-500 MB layer and accentuated by the broad lift of the shortwave and upper flow. Increasing upper divergence associated with the entrance region of a 120 knot 300 MB jet streak over Iowa helped spur the initial round of snow on the 17th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1241168. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.