Winter Storm — Knox, Nebraska

2005-11-28 · Knox, Nebraska

Wider weather episode

An intense low pressure system that tracked from Kansas into Iowa brought a major winter storm to much of Nebraska and adjacent sections of Colorado, Kansas and the Dakotas Sunday and Monday November 27th and 28th. The storm caused blizzard conditions across a large part of central and northeast Nebraska, and shut down a 220-mile stretch of Interstate 80 much of Monday. The Interstate remained closed into Tuesday morning. In addition, many, if not most, other roads in central and northeast Nebraska were closed for at least a time during the storm. Major highways in northeast Nebraska that were closed included Highway 81 north of Columbus and Highway 275 around Norfolk. Many vehicles were stranded on roads or slid or drove into ditches. In fact at one point it was reported that 100 vehicles were stalled on Highway 81 in only a 20 mile stretch between Columbus and Humphrey. The storm also brought severe thunderstorms to southeast Nebraska Sunday afternoon into Sunday night.In northeast Nebraska the precipitation began as rain Sunday afternoon, changing over to freezing rain Sunday evening. Significant ice accumulations began after midnight on the 28th, mainly from Albion and Neligh north and northeast into Knox, Madison and Pierce counties. Ice accumulations of 1/4 to 1/2 inch or even more were common from Neligh through Pierce, Bloomfield and Niobrara. Some locations in Antelope and Boone counties reported over 1 inch ice accumulations on power line equipment. When winds picked up Sunday night, many tree branches and power lines and poles were downed because of the ice accumulations. As a result, power was lost for at several hours, and in some cases for several days, across much of the area west through north of Norfolk. Three radio stations in Norfolk were knocked off the air by the wind and ice, and the combination of wind and ice also overturned many center pivot irrigation systems throughout the region. The freezing rain began changing to snow late Sunday evening or early Monday from northwest to southeast, and by mid Monday morning a raging blizzard was underway from Norfolk and locations north through southwest. Blizzard conditions spread southeast to Columbus, Stanton and Wayne during the afternoon. Heavier snow accumulations from the storm included 13 inches in Bloomfield, 12 inches in Niobrara, 10 inches in Crofton, 9 inches at Neligh, 7 inches in Madison and 6 inches at Stanton and Norfolk. In addition to the snow, very strong winds were reported throughout the region, with sustained winds of 40 mph or more and frequent gusts over 50 mph common. The strong winds caused some 5 to 15 foot drifts, especially north of an Albion to Norfolk line. Some gusts of 50 knots or greater (58 mph) were also recorded. Higher wind gusts and times (all cst) measured by Asos or Awos included...64 mph at Columbus at 255 pm, 59 mph in Norfolk at 507 pm, 52 mph at Albion at 1010 am and 51 mph at Wayne at 410 pm. The Albion sensor could have been under-reporting wind speeds due the freezing rain that fell earlier because peak wind gusts of around 60 mph or greater were common at other sites in between Norfolk and central Nebraska.At least one indirect fatality was recorded from the storm in northeast Nebraska. A head-on collision occurred Monday morning near Humphrey, near the junction of Highways 81 and 91 north of Columbus, when a driver crossed the center line in near white-out conditions and was struck by a semi-tractor trailer.Overall, damage from the storm in Nebraska was estimated at $5.3 million, a large part to public and private utility companies.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5479442. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.