Although this heavy snow/near-blizzard event that targeted mainly the northwestern one-third of South Central Nebraska would have easily qualified as significant/memorable even during the traditional winter months, its legacy ultimately flirted with historic given that it primarily unfolded on the final day of April, with lingering light accumulation even hanging on into the early morning hours of May 1st. By the time this snow-maker finally departed the region, it left behind wet, heavy snow accumulation of 4-12 across many western local counties, and some rural areas especially in and near Furnas County endured scattered power outages lasting several days. As just one example of the rare nature of such a significant, late-season snow event, the NWS cooperative observer at Cambridge measured a storm total of 7.3, making this the heaviest snow on record there so late into the spring season (records dating back 118 years). In terms of known measured amounts, (from a combination of NWS and CoCoRaHS observers) the outright-highest featured 12 near Lexington and 10 near Sumner, Arapahoe and Arcadia. During the height of the storm on Sunday the 30th, a portion of Interstate 80 was closed for a time due to near-blizzard conditions. With the very basic facts of this significant event now outlined, the remainder of this narrative will consist of additional details sorted by topic, including: general overview and snowfall specifics, storm total precipitation details, and temperature highlights.
General overview and synoptic weather setup/snowfall details: A powerful mid-upper low pressure system gradually approached and eventually passed through the Central Plains between Friday, April 28th and Monday, May 1st. For roughly the southeastern two-thirds of the local coverage area (including the Tri Cities), this system was primarily a rain-maker, bringing a much-needed and widespread swath of 2.00-3.50 to most areas, along with a rare, late-season coating of light snow. However, for primarily nine western and northern counties  (especially Furnas/Gosper/Phelps/Dawson/western Buffalo/Sherman/Valley), this storm will go down in history as one of the most significant, late-season snow events on record, as much of this area was blanketed with anywhere from 4-12 of heavy, wet snow during a 24-hour period between the morning of the 30th and the 1st. The combination of this heavy, wet snow building up on power lines and trees, along with northerly winds gusting up to around 50 MPH at times, resulted in several power outages mainly in rural areas, some of which lasted for several days. While some northern and western areas actually received a little snow during the daytime hours on Friday the 28th, by far the main event occurred between the morning of the 30th and the morning of May 1st as the heart of the powerful low pressure system tracked slightly south-through-east of the local area across KS and toward IA and MO. During this time, a roughly 80-mile band of snow fell along a sharply-defined path from western Kansas, northward into north central Nebraska. Within South Central Nebraska, the vast majority of accumulations of 2 or higher focused west of a line from Stamford-Kearney-Spalding, with minimal-to-no snow observed east of this line. While not officially a true blizzard in most areas, near-blizzard conditions were common at times on the 30th as frequent northerly wind gusts of 40-50 MPH combined with the heavy snow to greatly reduce visibility. Because temperatures hovered near-to-slightly above freezing through this entire snow event, some melting continuously occurred. This factor likely played into the fact that official snow totals varied more than usual over short distances, as observers who took measurements during the height of the event reported overall-higher totals than those who waited until the following morning to measure (after some melting had already occurred). While by far the largest amounts focused in western counties, even the lighter totals in central/eastern counties made for some noteworthy climate facts. For example, at Hastings, although only 0.6 officially fell on May 1st, this was nonetheless the largest May snow in 50 years (since 1967).
Storm total precipitation (rain and liquid equivalent snow): Cumulative, 4-day amounts from the 28th-1st tallied 2.00-3.50 across most of South Central Nebraska, with locally higher totals up to 4.73 reported at Wilsonville. Fortunately, much of this precipitation fell in separate rounds and was relatively spread out over these four days, which kept flooding issues to a minimum. For most of the area, this was actually a much-needed significant precipitation event, as parts of especially the southern half of South Central Nebraska had been running a respectable year-to-date precipitation deficit up until this point.
Temperature highlights: Sunday, April 30th (during which most snow fell) was a record-cold day across most of South Central Nebraska, featuring high temperatures only between 35-40 F. However, the very next day (Monday, May 1st), widespread sunshine returned and promoted markedly-warmer highs between the mid-50s and mid-60s, resulting in a faster-than-anticipated snow melt.

Winter Storm in VALLEY, NEBRASKA
From 30-APR-17 08:00:00 to 30-APR-17 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Snowfall amounts ranging from 5 to 10 inches fell across the county. The highest reports included 10 inches falling 2 miles west of Arcadia and 8.5 inches falling 9 miles northwest of Ord. Near-blizzard conditions were reported, with falling snow and wind gusts near 50 MPH resulting in visibility down to one quarter to one half of a mile at times.

Winter Storm in SHERMAN, NEBRASKA
From 30-APR-17 08:00:00 to 30-APR-17 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Snowfall amounts ranging from 3 to 7 inches fell across the county, with the highest amounts over the western half. Near-blizzard conditions were reported, with falling snow and wind gusts near 50 MPH resulting in visibility down to one quarter to one half of a mile at times.

Winter Storm in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 30-APR-17 03:00:00 to 30-APR-17 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Snowfall amounts ranging from 6 to 12 inches fell across the county. The highest reports included 12 inches falling 6 miles southwest of Lexington and 10 inches falling 4 miles east-southeast of Sumner. Interstate 80 was temporarily closed from Elm Creek in Buffalo County to Overton in Dawson County due to accidents from near-blizzard conditions, with falling snow and wind gusts near 50 MPH resulting in visibility down to one quarter to one half of a mile at times.

Winter Storm in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 29-APR-17 23:00:00 to 30-APR-17 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranging from 3 to 7 inches fell across the county, with the highest amounts over the western half. Interstate 80 was temporarily closed from Elm Creek in Buffalo County to Overton in Dawson County due to accidents from near-blizzard conditions, with falling snow and wind gusts near 50 MPH resulting in visibility down to one quarter to one half of a mile at times.

Winter Storm in GOSPER, NEBRASKA
From 30-APR-17 03:00:00 to 30-APR-17 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Snowfall amounts ranging from 5 to 10 inches fell across the county. The highest amount of 10 inches was reported 10 miles north-northeast of Arapahoe. Near-blizzard conditions were reported, with falling snow and wind gusts near 50 MPH resulting in visibility down to one quarter to one half of a mile at times.

Winter Storm in PHELPS, NEBRASKA
From 29-APR-17 23:00:00 to 30-APR-17 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranging from 3 to 8 inches fell across the county, with the highest amounts over the western half. Near-blizzard conditions were reported, with falling snow and wind gusts near 50 MPH resulting in visibility down to one quarter to one half of a mile at times.

Winter Storm in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 29-APR-17 23:00:00 to 30-APR-17 23:59:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

The highest total snowfall amounts included 10 inches in Wilsonville, 7.3 inches in Cambridge, and 5.0 inches in Beaver City. Near-blizzard conditions were reported, with falling snow and wind gusts near 50 MPH resulting in visibility down to one quarter to one half of a mile at times. Power outages lingered in some rural areas for several days thereafter.

High Wind in NUCKOLLS, NEBRASKA
From 30-APR-17 06:17:00 to 30-APR-17 06:17:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 58.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 67 MPH was measured by a mesonet site located 6 miles southwest of Nelson, likely resulting from a wake low pressure event.

High Wind in WEBSTER, NEBRASKA
From 30-APR-17 07:35:00 to 30-APR-17 07:35:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet site located near Red Cloud, likely resulting from a wake low pressure event.

High Wind in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 30-APR-17 08:25:00 to 30-APR-17 08:25:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by a mesonet site located near Roseland, perhaps a result of a wake low pressure event.

High Wind in NUCKOLLS, NEBRASKA
From 30-APR-17 07:15:00 to 30-APR-17 07:15:00 (CST-6)
Magnitude: 51.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A wind gust of 59 MPH was measured by a mesonet site located 4 miles west-northwest of  Davenport, likely resulting from a wake low pressure event.