Wind and Rain in the Northeast; Atmospheric River to Impact the West

A cold front will cross the Great Lakes and Northeast U.S. through today with gusty winds and areas of rain showers. A strong atmospheric river is then expected to move into the Northwest by midweek bringing a threat for moderate to heavy rainfall and flooding, gusty winds, and mountain snows for parts of Washington, Oregon, northern California, and the Sierra Nevada. Read More >

So far this late-fall season, MOST of our coverage area has yet to see truly measurable snow (including the Tri Cities). In fact, this means that MOST of our area is now "overdue" for its first true snow of the season. So...What are the "typical" FIRST DATES that our NWS Hastings coverage area of central/south central NE and north central KS can expect accumulating snow?

Listed in the table below are average "first snowfall" dates for various locations across our coverage area, generally arranged from north-to-south. This information is based on the most recent 30 snowfall seasons from official NWS Cooperative Observers (the 1992-1993 through 2021-2022 seasons).

Of course, keep in mind that these are only averages, and yearly variations between first snowfall dates can be quite significant.
For example, in Grand Island, the first occurrence of measurable snow during the past 30 years has ranged anywhere from Sep. 20, 1995 to Dec. 31, 2010!
Last winter (2021-2022), most of our coverage area saw its first measurable snow on either Nov. 1st (including the Nebraska Tri Cities) or Dec. 11th, although parts of especially our KS coverage area did not receive anything measurable until around New Year's Day!

AVERAGE "First Snowfall" Dates Over The Last 30 Seasons (1992-2021)

Location	0.1" Or More (in 24 hours)	1" Or More (in 24 hours)	2" Or More (in 24 hours)
Ord	Nov. 12	Nov. 15	Nov. 18
Osceola	Nov. 16	Nov. 22	Dec. 11
Grand Island	Nov. 11	Nov. 26	Dec. 10
Hastings	Nov. 12	Nov. 24	Dec. 13
Kearney	Nov. 15	Nov. 20	Dec. 3
Holdrege	Nov. 22	Nov. 30	Dec. 13
Cambridge	Nov. 17	Nov. 24	Dec. 12
Hebron	Nov. 20	Dec. 2	Dec. 11
Smith Center, KS	Nov. 23	Dec. 15	Dec. 22
Beloit, KS	Dec. 7	Dec. 11	Dec. 23
Plainville, KS	Nov. 20	Dec. 6	Dec. 20

The graphics below also help to "set the stage" for the upcoming snowfall season within our Central Plains Region (click images to enlarge):

Similar to the data in the table above, the image on the left depicts the median date of the first measurable snow (0.1" or more) across the entire north central United States (courtesy of the Midwestern Regional Climate Center)

The image on the right depicts "normal" seasonal snowfall across our region based on the latest official 30-year NCEI normals (1991-2020). Within our particular 30-county coverage area, "typical" seasonal snow ranges from generally 16-20" in most of north central Kansas, up to around 30+" in far northern local counties such as Valley/Greeley.

For more local climate information, check out the following website:

NOWData (NWS Hastings coverage area - NOAA Online Weather Data)
National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
High Plains Regional Climate Center

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Last updated: 11-25-22

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Wind and Rain in the Northeast; Atmospheric River to Impact the West

When Do We "Typically" See The Season's First Measurable Snow?