This Thursday morning (Christmas Eve) featured a widespread light to at-times moderate snow event across this 24-county South Central Nebraska area, most of which fell during the pre-dawn hours. While the majority of locations reported amounts between 1 and 2.5 inches, several counties primarily along and south of Highway 6 received locally higher totals of 3-4, marking the biggest snowfall of the early winter season for places such as Hastings. According to a combination of NeRAIN/CoCoRaHS and NWS cooperative observers, some of the highest totals featured: 4.0 at Geneva and Lawrence, 3.5 at several locations including two miles east-northeast of Franklin, four miles southwest of Bladen and eight miles northwest of Superior, 3.3 at Cambridge and 3.0 at Clay Center and Harlan County Lake. On the lower end of the spectrum, far northern counties (especially north of Highway 92) averaged under 1. All in all, this was a fairly low-impact event, especially given that winds averaged near-to-below 10 MPH and the snow was fairly wet in nature given surface temperatures in the mid-to-upper 20s. In fact, many folks welcomed this snow as it set the stage for the first white Christmas much of the area had seen in three years.
Timing-wise, this was clearly an overnight/early morning event for most of South Central Nebraska. The first snowflakes pushed into western portions of the area between 12-2 AM, with the leading edge of steady snow reaching the Highway 281 corridor around 3 AM and finally the Highway 81 corridor between 4-5 AM.  Snow fell for no more than 3-4 hours in most places, with the back edge pushing out of roughly the western half of the area between 4-6 AM and eventually clearing the Highway 81 counties between 8-10 AM. In the mid to upper levels, this quick-hitting event was instigated by a rather low-amplitude shortwave trough tracking across the heart of Nebraska, and embedded within a broad, larger-scale trough dominating the majority of the United States. Despite its fairly modest appearance in computer model data, this disturbance made the most of its mid-level isentropic lift and frontogenesis, resulting in slightly-higher-than-anticipated snow amounts within southern portions of South Central Nebraska.

Winter Weather in WEBSTER, NEBRASKA
From 24-DEC-15 02:30:00 to 24-DEC-15 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 3.1 inches occurred 4 miles southwest of Blue Hill. Also, 3.5 inches occurred 4 miles southwest of Bladen, reported by CoCoRahs.

Winter Weather in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 24-DEC-15 02:00:00 to 24-DEC-15 06:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

A snowfall total of 3.0 inches occurred in Franklin. Also a snowfall total of 3.5 inches occurred 2 miles east-northeast of Franklin and 2.8 inches occurred 6 miles south of Wilcox, reported through CoCoRaHs.

Winter Weather in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 24-DEC-15 02:30:00 to 24-DEC-15 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

A total snowfall of 2.9 inches occurred at the Hastings National Weather Service Office.

Winter Weather in YORK, NEBRASKA
From 24-DEC-15 03:30:00 to 24-DEC-15 10:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 2.8 inches occurred in Bradshaw and 2.7 inches occurred 3 miles north of York.

Winter Weather in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 24-DEC-15 00:00:00 to 24-DEC-15 05:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 3.3 inches occurred in Cambridge.

Winter Weather in FILLMORE, NEBRASKA
From 24-DEC-15 03:00:00 to 24-DEC-15 08:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall totals included 4.0 in Geneva (NWS observer) and 3.5 two miles northwest of Ohiowa (CoCoRaHS).

Winter Weather in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 24-DEC-15 01:30:00 to 24-DEC-15 05:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 3.0 inches occurred at Harlan Lake.

Winter Weather in NUCKOLLS, NEBRASKA
From 24-DEC-15 03:30:00 to 24-DEC-15 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Snowfall totals from CoCoRaHS featured 4.0 at Lawrence and 3.5 at several locations including six miles northeast of Superior, eight miles northwest of Superior and two miles north of Nora.

Winter Weather in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 24-DEC-15 02:30:00 to 24-DEC-15 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A total snowfall of 3.0 inches fell in Clay Center and 2.7 inches fell 6 miles east-southeast of Clay Center.