612
NOUS43 KLBF 301745
PNSLBF
NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-011200-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
1145 AM CST TUE DEC 30 2025 /1045 AM MST TUE DEC 30 2025/
..TOP 5 WEATHER EVENTS FOR 2025
HIGHLY VARIABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS HIGHLIGHTED 2025 ACROSS WESTERN
AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. THE YEAR BEGAN WITH ONGOING DROUGHT
CONDITIONS ACROSS THE AREA. WINTER CONDITIONS FOR JANUARY,
FEBRUARY AND MARCH WERE FAIRLY BENIGN ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTH
CENTRAL NEBRASKA AS NORTH PLATTE HAD ITS 13TH LEAST SNOWIEST
WINTER ON RECORD AT 13.2 INCHES. VALENTINE HAD SLIGHTLY BELOW
NORMAL SNOWFALL AT 28.5 INCHES. WITH THE CARRYOVER OF DRY
CONDITIONS INTO SPRING, NUMEROUS WILDFIRES SPRUNG UP ACROSS THE
AREA IN MARCH. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A VERY ACTIVE SEVERE WEATHER
SEASON WHICH COMMENCED IN LATE APRIL, AND CONTINUED INTO EARLY
OCTOBER. WITH THE ACTIVE SEVERE WEATHER SEASON, ABUNDANT RAINFALL
LED TO IMPROVING DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS THE AREA MID-SUMMER
INTO EARLY FALL. DRY AND VERY WARM CONDITIONS IN NOVEMBER AND
DECEMBER, LED TO A LACK OF SNOWFALL ACROSS THE AREA AND A SLIGHT
EXPANSION IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS BY THE END OF 2025. THE FOLLOWING
ARE THE TOP 5 SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EVENTS WHICH IMPACTED WESTERN
AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA IN 2025.
DROUGHT CONDITIONS IMPROVE BY LATE SUMMER ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTH
CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
DRY CONDITIONS IN THE FALL OF 2024, CARRIED OVER INTO EARLY 2025.
JANUARY 2025 BEGAN WITH MOST OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA IN ABNORMALLY DRY TO SEVERE AND EVEN EXTREME DROUGHT
CONDITIONS. SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE GENERALLY NORTH OF A
LINE FROM OSHKOSH TO BRADY. SOUTH OF THIS LINE, ABNORMALLY DRY TO
MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE OCCURRING. DROUGHT CONDITIONS
PERSISTED INTO THE FIRST HALF OF JULY BEFORE BEGINNING TO IMPROVE.
BY EARLY AUGUST, ABUNDANT RAINFALL HAD LED TO REDUCTION OF
DROUGHT ACROSS A LARGE PORTION OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA. POCKETS OF ABNORMALLY DRY TO MODERATE DROUGHT CONTINUED
FOR THE WESTERN SANDHILLS AND PORTIONS OF FRONTIER, BOYD AND
NORTHERN HOLT COUNTY. TIMELY RAINS IN SEPTEMBER, WIPED OUT MOST
DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
THERE WERE TWO SMALL POCKETS OF MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER
WESTERN GARDEN, AND SMALL PORTIONS OF BOYD AND HOLT COUNTIES BY
EARLY OCTOBER. HOWEVER, DUE TO DRY AND ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES
IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS HAD EXPANDED
TO MOST OF WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. MODERATE DROUGHT
CONDITIONS HAD EXPANDED EAST OF GARDEN COUNTY AS OF LATE
DECEMBER, AND HAD COVERED MOST OF THE WESTERN SANDHILLS.
RANGE FIRES CONSUME AROUND 32,000 ACRES DURING THE LAST WEEK OF
MARCH.
THE COMBINATION OF VERY DRY FUELS, HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE 80S AND
GUSTY WINDS, LED TO TWO LARGE RANGE FIRES ACROSS PORTIONS OF
LINCOLN AND CHERRY COUNTIES DURING THE LAST WEEK OF MARCH. ON
MARCH 26TH, A FIRE STARTED APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES NORTH OF
MAXWELL. GUSTY WINDS ALLOWED THE FIRE TO CONSUME APPROXIMATELY
8,800 ACRES BEFORE IT WAS EXTINGUISHED ON THE 27TH. A TOTAL OF 13
LOCAL, STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES WERE INVOLVED IN FIGHTING THE
FIRE. ON THE 28TH, A FIRE STARTED NEAR DADS LAKE IN THE VALENTINE
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE. AIDED BY STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS, THE
FIRE RACED SOUTH CONSUMING APPROXIMATELY 23,000 ACRES. NO INJURIES
OR DEATHS RESULTED FROM THE FIRE.
NORTHWESTERN SANDHILLS TORNADO OUTBREAK OF APRIL 27TH.
SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVER NORTHERN GARDEN COUNTY
DURING THE EARLY EVENING HOURS OF APRIL 27TH. THIS ACTIVITY
TRACKED SLOWLY NORTHEAST OVER THE NEXT 4 TO 5 HOURS PRODUCING HAIL
UP TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER. A TOTAL OF 11 TORNADOES WERE ALSO
REPORTED WITH THE SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS. THREE OF THE TORNADOES
WERE EF2 INTENSITY WITH WIND SPEEDS ESTIMATED BETWEEN 115 AND 120
MPH. ONE TORNADO, WHICH PASSED WEST OF ASHBY, WAS 2,200 YARDS
WIDE. THIS TORNADO IMPACTED A RANCH AND OVERTURNED A FREIGHT
TRAIN ALONG STATE HIGHWAY 2. THE TORNADO TRAVELED APPROXIMATELY
19 MILES NORTHEAST BEFORE DISSIPATING. DAMAGE WITH THIS TORNADO
WAS ESTIMATED AT 750,000 DOLLARS. TWO OTHER EF2 INTENSITY
TORNADOES PASSED TO THE WEST OF MERRITT RESERVOIR DESTROYING
NUMEROUS MATURE TREES AND TOSSING THEM A SIGNIFICANT DISTANCE. IN
ADDITION TO THE 3 EF2 TORNADOES, 8 OTHER TORNADOES TOUCHED DOWN
FROM NORTHERN GARDEN INTO SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL CHERRY COUNTY.
THESE TORNADOES DID NOT PRODUCE DAMAGE AND WERE TOUCHDOWNS OVER
OPEN RANGELAND.
DICKENS TORNADOES OF JUNE 17TH.
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF LINCOLN COUNTY
DURING THE EARLY EVENING HOURS OF JUNE 17TH. AS THESE STORMS
INTERACTED WITH A SURFACE BOUNDARY, THEY BECAME TORNADIC PRODUCING
TWO TORNADOES JUST TO THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF DICKENS. THE
FIRST TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ALONG HIGHWAY 23 JUST EAST OF DICKENS.
RATED EF1, THIS TORNADO SNAPPED SEVERAL HARDWOOD TREES BEFORE
LIFTING. A SECOND, VERY PHOTOGENIC EF2 TORNADO DEVELOPED SOUTHEAST
OF DICKENS. AS IT TRACKED SOUTH 3 MILES OVER THE NEXT 45 MINUTES,
NUMEROUS POWER POLES WERE SNAPPED, A CENTER PIVOT WAS OVERTURNED
AND SEVERE DAMAGE OCCURRED TO SHELTER-BELTS ALONG ITS PATH. THIS
TORNADO PRODUCED APPROXIMATELY 140,000 DOLLARS IN DAMAGE.
SEVERE STORMS IMPACT THE SANDHILLS AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL, NORTH
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA JULY 19.
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED ALONG A STATIONARY FRONT, SITUATED ACROSS
THE NEBRASKA SANDHILLS DURING THE MID-AFTERNOON HOURS. STORMS
QUICKLY BECAME SEVERE OVER MCPHERSON, LOGAN, AND NORTHERN LINCOLN
COUNTIES AROUND 3 PM CDT. OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS,
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY EXPANDED EAST AND WEST OF THE INITIAL
STORMS BECOMING SEVERE. LATER IN THE EARLY EVENING HOURS,
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY DEVELOPED OVER NORTHERN BROWN COUNTY, QUICKLY
BECOMING SEVERE. HAIL UP TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER WAS REPORTED IN
FAR NORTHERN LINCOLN AND SOUTHERN LOGAN COUNTIES. HAIL UP TO 3
INCHES IN DIAMETER WAS REPORTED IN WESTERN MCPHERSON AND FRONTIER
COUNTIES. WIND GUSTS UP TO 100 MPH PRODUCED SEVERE WIND DAMAGE IN
AND AROUND AINSWORTH IN BROWN COUNTY. PROPERTY DAMAGE IN THE
AINSWORTH AREA WAS ESTIMATED AT AROUND 1 MILLION DOLLARS.
CLB
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