Starting during the early morning hours on this Sunday and continuing well into the evening in eastern counties, a pronounced collision of spring and winter fueled a gamut of weather across South Central Nebraska. This included strong to marginally severe thunderstorms mainly in the southeast half of the 24-county area, near-blizzard conditions and several inches of wet, heavy snow mainly in the northwest half of the area, and also several hours of sustained north winds generally 30-35 MPH commonly gusting 40-50+ MPH. By far the biggest story of the day was the worse-than-expected combination of moderate to heavy snow and strong wind. Although travel became treacherous in several counties, a few of the most newsworthy issues included the closure of Interstate 80 between Kearney and Elm Creek and the opening of a warming shelter for stranded motorists in Holdrege. As for storm-total snowfall, the highest concentration of 3-6 amounts (and locally higher) occurred within a southwest-to northeast band centered roughly 15 miles either side of a line from near Beaver City-Holdrege-Ravenna-Wolbach. Within this hardest-hit zone, a few of the highest snow totals from NWS cooperative observers and NeRAIN observers featured 7.5 three miles west of Elba, 7.0 seven miles south of Litchfield and also four miles east-southeast of Sumner, 6.7 at Wolbach and 6.1 at St. Paul. Outside this primary snow band, including most locations south and southeast of a line from Franklin-Grand Island-York, accumulations averaged no more than 1-2. However, even these areas endured at least a brief bout of very poor visibilities in wind-blown snow. As for the timing of snow, it was a typical west-to-east transition from rain to snow with a brief period of sleet in between. The aforementioned, significant snow band that targeted western and northern counties produced most of its impacts between 11 AM-3 PM CDT, remaining quasi-stationary for several hours within a focused mid-level deformation zone. During the later afternoon and early evening hours, the band became much more progressive as it marched eastward through the remainder of South Central Nebraska, eventually exiting the eastern fringes of the local area between 8-10 PM CDT.
Before the wintry aspect of this system took center stage, convection was the initial focus of the day as primarily the southeast half of the 24-county area saw fairly widespread coverage of thunderstorms for the first time in 2014. Strong storms began flaring up mainly south of Interstate 80 between 6-8 AM CDT, with one storm producing hail up to quarter size in far eastern Fillmore County. Although no additional storms met severe-criteria, several produced copious amounts of small hail, resulting in a report of slick roadways in parts of Franklin County. Although the existing gradient wind across the area was already quite strong, the presence of thunderstorm outflow likely further-enhanced gusts, resulting in peak speeds to around 60 MPH as measured at the Kearney airport. Thunderstorm-enhanced winds likely also contributed to the destruction of a building under construction in eastern Franklin County. As increasingly-colder air surged across the area from west-to-east during the late morning and early afternoon hours, thunderstorms all but ended within the area by 2 PM CDT.
As earlier mentioned, this snow event ended up being much more impactful than anticipated, in part because most computer forecast models failed to predict the intense banding and also underestimated the speed and magnitude of cold air surging into the area. Furthermore, the heavy snowfall rates overwhelmed any melting influences from antecedent warm ground conditions. As testament to the stark weather changes associated with this system, afternoon high temperatures on the preceding afternoon of the 12th ranged from 76-80 F across most of South Central Nebraska. By daybreak on the 13th, the powerful cold front had pushed well south of the area along an axis from southwest Kansas to southern Iowa, with temperatures across most of the local area already well down into the 40s F. By early afternoon when snow was well-underway, temperatures across the majority of South Central Nebraska had plunged to 30-35 F, promoting wind chill values generally 15-20 F. In the mid-upper levels, a longwave trough dominated much of the central United States and Nebraska resided under a favorable coupled upper jet regime within the exit region of a southern stream branch sliding across the Southern Plains and the entrance region of a northern stream jet centered from the eastern Dakotas into Canada. A bit lower in the troposphere, a pronounced zone of frontogenesis/deformation focused across the heart of South Central Nebraska along the path of a 700 millibar low pressure center and to the northwest of a closed 850 millibar low that tracked from southwest Kansas to southern Iowa. On a positive note, the combination of rain and snow brought much-needed liquid precipitation totals of 0.40-0.80 to the majority of the area, with amounts in excess of 1 common in the corridor of heaviest snow, highlighted by 1.98 at Holdrege. As is typical of April snow, it did not stick around long as high temperatures two days later bounced back into the 60s.

Winter Storm in GREELEY, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 10:00:00 to 13-APR-14 16:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 6.7 inches occurred in the community of Wolbach (cooperative observer), 6.0 inches occurred in Spalding (from an NERAIN observer), and 5.5 inches occurred 3 miles south southeast of Scotia (cooperative observer).

Winter Storm in HOWARD, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 10:00:00 to 13-APR-14 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A snowfall total of 7.5 inches occurred 3 miles west of Elba (from an NERAIN observer) and 6.1 inches of snowfall occurred in St. Paul (from a cooperative observer).

Winter Weather in NANCE, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 11:00:00 to 13-APR-14 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 6.0 inches occurred 2 miles west of Genoa and 4.0 inches fell in Belgrade.

Winter Weather in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 12:00:00 to 13-APR-14 18:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A snowfall total of 4.0 inches occurred 4 miles east northeast of St. Libory (from an NERAIN observer).

Winter Weather in GOSPER, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 10:00:00 to 13-APR-14 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 4.0 inches occurred 8 miles south of Elwood.

Winter Weather in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 10:00:00 to 13-APR-14 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 3.0 inches occurred in Beaver City.

Winter Weather in POLK, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 13:00:00 to 13-APR-14 19:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 3.0 inches occurred in Osceola.

Hail in FILLMORE, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 06:20:00 to 13-APR-14 06:20:00 (CST-6)
Location: OHIOWA
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Dime to quarter size hail was reported.

Hail in MERRICK, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 11:20:00 to 13-APR-14 11:20:00 (CST-6)
Location: CHAPMAN
Magnitude: 0.75 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Storm Chaser

Thunderstorm Wind in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 09:35:00 to 13-APR-14 09:35:00 (CST-6)
Location: (EAR)KEARNEY ARPT
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: AWOS

The wind gust was a combination of gradient wind enhanced by outflow from thunderstorms.

Thunderstorm Wind in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 10:15:00 to 13-APR-14 10:15:00 (CST-6)
Location: (EAR)KEARNEY ARPT
Magnitude: 54.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: AWOS

The wind gust was a combination of gradient wind enhanced by outflow from thunderstorms.

Winter Storm in SHERMAN, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 10:00:00 to 13-APR-14 16:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A snowfall total of 7.0 inches occurred 7 miles south of Litchfield (from an NERAIN observer) and 6.5 inches occurred 2 miles northwest of Rockville (also from an NERAIN observer).

Winter Storm in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 10:00:00 to 13-APR-14 16:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A snowfall total of 7.0 inches occurred 4 miles east southeast of Sumner (reported from an NERAIN observer), 6.0 inches fell 5 miles west northwest of Elm Creek (reported from an NERAIN observer), and 5.0 inches fell 1 mile east of Lexington (also reported from an NERAIN observer).

Winter Storm in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 10:00:00 to 13-APR-14 18:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 5.2 inches occurred in Ravenna and 4.0 inches occurred in the community of Miller. This snowfall, combined with wind speeds of over 40 mph and gusts to over 50 mph at times, caused considerable drifting of snow and near-blizzard conditions. Interstate 80 was even closed for a time from Kearney to Elm Creek.

Winter Storm in PHELPS, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 10:00:00 to 13-APR-14 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 4.0 inches occurred in Holdrege. Wind speeds of 35 mph with gusts up to around 50 mph occurred at times, causing considerable drifting of snow and near-blizzard conditions. Driving conditions became treacherous and the Phelps County Sheriff's office reported that at least 15 vehicles ran off the road in the area. The Red Cross opened a warming station at Holdrege City Auditorium for stranded motorists.

Thunderstorm Wind in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 13-APR-14 09:05:00 to 13-APR-14 09:05:00 (CST-6)
Location: RIVERTON
Magnitude: 56.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Social Media

A farm building under construction was destroyed, likely by a combination of  a strong gradient wind enhanced by thunderstorm outflow. Photo received via Facebook.