Winter Storm in Butler, Nebraska

The office received snowfall reports of 5 inches from the public, with the heaviest amounts of 6-7 inches estimated along the eastern edge of the county. Measured wind gusts of 20 to 27 mph, combined with the heavy snowfall, reduced visibility to around one-half mile.

A band of heavy snow, coupled with gusty winds and reduced visibility, impacted east-central Nebraska and southwest Iowa beginning on the afternoon of February 19, 2026, and continuing into the early morning hours of February 20, 2026. The heaviest band of snow fell generally along a line from Lincoln, NE, to Omaha, NE, to Council Bluffs, IA, with a maximum snowfall of 10.3 inches measured 4 miles southeast of Bennington, Nebraska. Numerous snowfall reports in the 7 to 9-inch range were received across Lancaster, Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, and Saunders counties in Nebraska, as well as Pottawattamie, Mills, and Harrison counties in Iowa.

The system was forced by a broad trough moving across much of the CONUS, accompanied by a potent shortwave trough that tracked into central Nebraska. As the system took shape, a surface low maintained impressive depth, progressing slowly across northern Kansas before deepening as it pivoted and ejected from northwestern Missouri toward Wisconsin. As the low passed to the south and east, strong height falls, warm air advection, elevated instability, and frontogenesis wrapped along its northern periphery, driving a narrow but potent band of snow into east-central Nebraska and southwest Iowa. Model soundings exhibited steep lapse rates, which supported convective snowband development and impressive snowfall rates across the area. This was coupled with wind gusts in the 25 to 35 mph range, frequently reducing visibility to below one-quarter of a mile in many locations.