Primarily between 7 a.m. and noon on this Tuesday morning, a rather progressive but somewhat stronger-than-expected snow band tracked from northwest-southeast through South Central Nebraska, primarily affecting locations east-northeast of a Litchfield-Minden-Guide Rock line. Although most of these areas picked up at least a quick inch or so of snow, a narrow corridor generally no more than 30 miles wide received a burst of 2-4 inches, adversely affecting the morning commute especially north of Interstate 80. Conditions were worsened by increasing north wind behind a passing cold front, featuring sustained speeds of generally 20-25 MPH and gusts to over 30 MPH. The center of the main snow band stretched from near Loup City and Arcadia in the northwest, then southeast through the Grand Island, Clay Center and Hebron areas. Within the heart of this swath, a few of the highest measured totals (per a combination of NWS cooperative observers and NeRAIN observers) featured 4.3 at Bruning, 3.6 at Loup City, 3.3 six miles east-southeast of Clay Center, 3.1 at Grand Island airport and 3.0 at Arcadia and Hubbell. On either side of this band, noticeably lower totals were reported at places such as Hastings (1.6) and Geneva (1.5).
Timing-wise, snow first spread into local counties along and north of the Highway 92  between 7-8 a.m., overtook the Interstate 80 corridor mainly from 8-10 a.m., and thereafter tracked through the southeast quadrant of South Central Nebraska before departing into northern Kansas by mid-day. Turning to the meteorology behind this event, one of the main reasons that snow totals in excess of 1 were initially not anticipated revolved around the fact that there were no obvious strong features such as a pronounced frontogenetic band. However, snowfall rates over the local area were likely enhanced by a pocket of very steep low and especially mid level lapse rates. The main forcing aloft was provided by a quick-moving shortwave trough diving southward across Nebraska out of the Dakotas in a broad northwest flow regime, one of several smaller-scale disturbances passing through the central United States within an expansive large-scale trough that encompassed the majority of the nation. At the surface, a weak surface low pressure system accompanied the leading edge of snow, quickly followed by the cold front that ushered in the gusty north wind. Temperatures across South Central Nebraska generally averaged a few degrees either side of 20 F during this event.

Winter Weather in VALLEY, NEBRASKA
From 17-FEB-15 06:00:00 to 17-FEB-15 09:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 3.0 inches was measured in Arcadia.

Winter Weather in SHERMAN, NEBRASKA
From 17-FEB-15 06:30:00 to 17-FEB-15 10:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

A snowfall total of 3.6 inches was measured in Loup City.

Winter Weather in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 17-FEB-15 09:00:00 to 17-FEB-15 11:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 2.6 inches was measured in Ravenna.

Winter Weather in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 17-FEB-15 08:00:00 to 17-FEB-15 11:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

A snowfall total of 3.1 inches was measured in Grand Island, at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport.

Winter Weather in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 17-FEB-15 08:00:00 to 17-FEB-15 11:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 2.5 inches was measured 4 miles southeast of Phillips.

Winter Weather in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 17-FEB-15 09:00:00 to 17-FEB-15 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 3.3 inches was measured 6 miles east southeast of Clay Center.

Winter Weather in THAYER, NEBRASKA
From 17-FEB-15 09:30:00 to 17-FEB-15 12:30:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A snowfall total of 4.3 inches was measured in Hubbell.

Winter Weather in NUCKOLLS, NEBRASKA
From 17-FEB-15 09:00:00 to 17-FEB-15 12:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Although ground-truth reports were lacking, observations from nearby counties along with radar data strongly suggested that parts of primarily the northeast quadrant of Nuckolls County received as much as 2-3 inches of snow.