Watching Hurricane Erin; Heavy Rainfall Threat for Upper Midwest; Heatrisk for Mississippi Valley

Hurricane Erin continues to track westward with its outer bands bringing heavy rainfall and gusty winds for Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands. Life-threatening surf and rip currents are occurring and will spread across the Atlantic coasts this week. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall and possible flooding are in the forecast for upper Midwest through Monday. Heatrisk continues for the Mississippi Valley. Read More >

Overview

A dynamic low pressure system/winter storm crossed the Central Plains from Thursday, Feb. 23rd through Friday, Feb. 24th, 2017. As is common of many storm systems especially later in the winter, a variety of weather was observed across the NWS Hastings coverage area:

- Snow: Snow was the "big story" for much of the area, but especially for counties north of the Interstate 80 corridor, where totals in the 4-7" range were common. Meanwhile, lesser totals of 2-4" prevailed along the Interstate 80 and Highway 6 corridors, with only 1-2" reported farther south near the Nebraska-Kansas border. Although not a "true blizzard", strong northerly winds gusting to around 40 MPH on the 24th resulted in "near-blizzard" conditions at times in falling snow (see the snowfall table and map below for more details).

- Freezing drizzle: Especially during the pre-dawn hours of the 24th, there was a temporary "lull" in snowfall across much of the area. Unfortunately, this allowed steady freezing drizzle to take "center stage" for a time, resulting in very slick roadways across several counties. Near and especially after sunrise, snow moved back in from the north and put an end to any freezing drizzle.

- Thunderstorms/small hail: During the afternoon and evening of the 23rd, a narrow line of thunderstorms developed across southeast portions of the area (initially from Rooks County KS northeastward toward Fillmore County NE), and marched eastward with time. While these storms were non-severe, some places reported hail up to around one-half inch in diameter, along with a varied mix of sleet and wet snow.

NWS Hastings radar loop from 12:30 PM on Feb. 23rd - 3:30 PM on Feb.24th. The NWS Hastings coverage area is outlined in orange and interstates are in red.

Snowfall Amounts
Precipitation Maps

Snowfall Amounts

Below is a table of selected snowfall totals from area NWS Hastings Cooperative Observers. These are storm total (48 hour) snowfall totals, ending Saturday morning, February 25th.

Location	Snowfall (in)
Greeley	7.5
Ord	7.0
Loup City	5.0
3 NE Shelby	4.8
St. Paul	4.3
Miller	3.7
Kearney Airport	3.6
Osceola	3.2
3 N York	3.2
NWS Hastings (4 N Hastings)	3.2
Clay Center	3.0
Ravenna	3.0
Minden	3.0
Grand Island Airport	2.9
8 S Elwood	2.0
Bradshaw	1.9
Smith Center, KS	1.8
Hebron	1.7
Wilsonville	1.5
Burr Oak, KS	1.4
6 ESE Clay Center	1.4

Precipitation Maps


Storm Total (48 Hr) Snowfall Ending The Morning of Feb. 25th.	Storm Total (48 Hr) Liquid Equivalent Ending The Morning of Feb. 25th.

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Watching Hurricane Erin; Heavy Rainfall Threat for Upper Midwest; Heatrisk for Mississippi Valley

February 23-24, 2017: 4-7" of Snow North of I-80...Some of the First Thunderstorms of 2017 In Southeast Counties