The second official blizzard of the season in South Central Nebraska pounded much of the southeast half of the area on this Sunday, dropping generally 3-9 inches of snow whipped by strong sustained north-northwest winds of 25-35 MPH that frequently gusted over 40 MPH. The vast majority of snow focused east of a line from near Fullerton-Hastings-Franklin, with the heart of the worst blizzard conditions centered through Hamilton, York, Clay, Fillmore, Nuckolls and Thayer counties. Interstate 80 was closed for several hours from Grand Island to Lincoln. In sharp contrast, and thanks to an extremely sharp divide in snow bands, most locations west of the Fullerton-Hastings-Franklin line hardly observed any snow at all. Snow first started falling in southwest-to-northeast bands around midnight, after transitioning from a rain/sleet mix that fell on the evening of the 9th. By sunrise, 1-3 inches had fallen across much of the affected area, with higher amounts to around 5 inches reported near Superior. Blizzard conditions with visibility of around 1/4 mile or less were present from the start in many areas, as Hastings airport measured one of the highest known wind gusts of the event at 54 MPH around 5 AM CDT. By the mid-morning hours, conditions had further deteriorated as a particularly intense snow band roughly 20 miles wide persisted along an axis from York to Nuckolls counties. By the early-mid afternoon hours, banding was not quite as intense, but a broad area of light to moderate snow continued. During the late afternoon and evening hours, falling snow tapered off to flurries and eventually ended from west to east. However, at least minor blowing snow issues continued well into the night as sustained winds slowly eased below 20 MPH.
Per NWS cooperative observers, a few of the highest storm-total snow amounts included 9 near Shickley, 8.1 near Superior, 8 at Geneva and 6 in or near Aurora, Bruning and Hubbell. A bit farther west, both Hastings and Grand Island set or tied daily snowfall records for March 10th with 5.3 and 3.5, respectively. As evidence of the sharp west edge of the snowfall area, places such as Kearney airport and Minden only reported 0.2 and a non-measurable trace, respectively. On the synoptic scale aloft, this event was powered by the passage of a highly amplified and slightly positively tilted mid-upper trough that slowly lumbered across the Central United States. At 700 millibars, the heaviest snow bands concentrated under a pronounced deformation zone on the northwest periphery of a closed low/vort max that tracked from southwest Kansas on the evening of the 9th to southern Iowa by late evening on the 10th. At mid-afternoon on the 10th, surface maps confirmed that strong north winds and blizzard conditions were promoted by a tight pressure gradient between a 1004 millibar low over north central Missouri and a 1022 millibar ridge extending southward into northwest Nebraska. Enhancing the March misery across the local area were temperatures averaging in the low-mid 20s, yielding wind chill values generally 4-12 degrees above zero.

Blizzard in YORK, NEBRASKA
From 09-MAR-13 23:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard in FILLMORE, NEBRASKA
From 10-MAR-13 05:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard in THAYER, NEBRASKA
From 10-MAR-13 05:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Winter Weather in NANCE, NEBRASKA
From 09-MAR-13 23:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Winter Weather in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 09-MAR-13 23:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Winter Weather in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 09-MAR-13 23:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Blizzard in WEBSTER, NEBRASKA
From 09-MAR-13 23:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 09-MAR-13 23:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard in NUCKOLLS, NEBRASKA
From 10-MAR-13 05:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 09-MAR-13 23:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 09-MAR-13 23:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Blizzard in POLK, NEBRASKA
From 09-MAR-13 23:00:00 to 10-MAR-13 15:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS