Winter Weather in Madison, Nebraska

Snow, mostly light, combined with northwest winds which increased to 25 to 45 mph with a peak gust of 47 mph recorded by the Asos sensor in Norfolk. This brought widespread blowing and drifting snow and poor visibilities beginning on 2/14 and continuing into the 15th. These conditions reached blizzard criteria for a while on the 14th as visibilities dropped below 1/4 mile. The drifting snow closed many roads and caused some schools to cancel classes on the 15th. A 45-year-old male was killed early in the morning on the 15th after being hit while walking away from his vehicle which had hit a snowdrift and rolled. Snowfall from the storm was only a couple of inches, but extensive snow cover already in place allowed the new snow to easily drift over roads and create the poor visibilities.

A quick moving storm brought strong winds and blizzard or near-blizzard conditions to a large part of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa on Feb. 14th and 15th. As low pressure aloft dropped southeast across eastern Nebraska early on the 14th, light to moderate snow developed over the region. As the system moved southeast of the area, northwest winds increased to 30 to 45 mph. The combination caused white-out conditions, which in some cases lasted for more than 3 hours, even though storm snow amounts were generally under 2 inches. During the height of the storm there were several multi-car pileups which caused road closures. They included ones on Interstate 80 near the Platte River, and on highways near Cedar Bluffs, Beatrice, David City, Alvo and Milford. The accident on Interstate 80 claimed one life. Another disturbance rotated down along the Missouri River late in the evening on the 14th bringing more light snow as the strong winds continued. Additional snowfall from this disturbance was generally under 1 inch. However, the strong winds continued to cause significant drifting snow in open areas causing more accidents, several of which were fatal, and also caused additional road closures. Many of the closed roads were in northeast Nebraska which also prompted the closure of several area schools.