Heavy Snow — Seward, Nebraska

2013-12-07 to 2013-12-08 · Seward, Nebraska

Event narrative

Snowfall of 6 to 8 inches fell over much of Seward county, including a little over 8 inches in Utica. One person was killed on I80 during the evening of the 8th when their vehicle hit a patch of ice causing it to swerve into another vehicle and then slid off the road where it rolled.

Wider weather episode

An upper level disturbance moved across the plains on top of Arctic air that was in place over the region. This resulted in an 18-24 hour period of light to occasionally moderate snow that fell across much of eastern Nebraska. Due to the cold temperatures in place, readings in the single digits and teens, the ratio of snow to liquid was quite high, around 20 to 1 in many instances. However, although winds were fairly light which limited the blowing and drifting, the extreme cold limited the effectiveness of any chemical/salt treatments and snow plowing still left many roads slick. The early season nature of the event, and the slickness of the roads, caused many traffic accidents. In the Lincoln area, several semi-trucks jackknifed on Interstate 80 near town closing the interstate down for a while. Snow amounts were mostly 3 to 6 inches from Lincoln to Seward then south through Gage and Jefferson counties and also southeast across Pawnee and Richardson counties. Higher totals included around 8 inches in Utica, and 6-7 inches near Friend, Fairbury, Adams and Shubert. Around 5 inches fell in the Lincoln area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 479560. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.