Over a 36-hour period between the evening of Saturday the 24th and the late-morning of Monday the 26th, nearly the entire 24-county South Central Nebraska area saw at least one round of light-to-moderate snow (some places a few rounds). For the majority of places (except for some counties north of Interstate 80) these were the first measurable flakes of the 2020-21 season. However, totals differed considerably, ranging from 1 inch or less in several places, to as high as 3-5 (isolated 6) in others. This was due to variances in the placement of two primary, generally west-east oriented snow bands: 1) a northern band that spread amounts of 3-5 (isolated higher) across Valley/Greeley/northern Nance counties...2) a southern band that brought totals of generally 2-4 (isolated higher) to locations roughly 15-25 miles either side of line from Beaver City-Hastings. Within these two main stripes, a sampling of the highest CoCoRaHS/NWS cooperative reports featured: 6 nine miles northwest of Ord and also at Wilsonville, 5 In Ord and near Wilcox, 4.5 eight miles north-northeast of Scotia, 4 in Spalding, 3.7 six miles south of Beaver City and 3.5 in Minden. In contrast, most locations outside these bands (including between them) only tallied around 1 or less (including at Grand Island, York, St. Paul, Central City, Superior and Hebron). Winds during this event were not overly-strong, but still enough to promote modest travel impacts from blowing snow/minor drifting thanks to sustained speeds generally 10-20 MPH/gusts up to around 30 MPH. While snow was clearly the main precipitation type, some areas also noted a light glaze of freezing drizzle (mainly on elevated surfaces).
Although this was a somewhat-prolonged snow event for South Central Nebraska as a whole, it certainly did not snow area-wide the entire time, as the varied timing/placement of banding brought accumulation to some places well before others. Within the northern band north of Interstate 80, the majority of accumulation occurred on-and-off between the evening of the 24th and the late afternoon of the 25th. Meanwhile, within the southern band the majority of snow got underway on the evening of the 25th and peaked in intensity overnight before diminishing by daybreak on the 26th. However, one last, brief burst of heavier snow blossomed mainly 7-10 a.m. CDT, bringing the last half-inch to inch of accumulation to places such as Cambridge, Holdrege, Minden and the Highway 281 corridor between Hastings and Grand Island. In the mid-upper levels, the main forcing behind this early-season event stemmed from a series of small-scale disturbances/ribbons of mid-level saturation/frontogenesis zipping across the Central Plains in active west-southwest flow, focused out ahead of (south of) a large-scale, positively-tilted trough sinking slowly south-southeastward through the Northern/Central Rockies and Northern Plains. At the surface, the steady north-northeast breezes were largely driven by pressure rises emanating from a strong/expansive ridge axis migrating from the Northern Rockies on the morning of the 25th to the Nebraska area on the morning of the 26th (central pressure by this time around 1034 millibars). From a temperature standpoint, this snow event occurred right in the middle of what ended up being the overall-coldest week on record to occur so early in the fall season (per long-term historical data at both Grand Island and Hastings). More specifically, the week of the 22nd-28th averaged 16-17 degrees below normal, including five-straight days from the 23rd-27th with highs only maxing out between the upper 20s-low 40s F.

Winter Weather in VALLEY, NEBRASKA
From 24-OCT-20 20:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 03:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranged from 3 to 6 inches across the county, including NWS observer/CoCoRaHS totals as high as 6 nine miles northwest of Ord and 5 in Ord.

Winter Weather in GREELEY, NEBRASKA
From 24-OCT-20 21:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 03:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranged from 3 to 5 inches across most of the county, including NWS observer/CoCoRaHS totals of 4.5 eight miles north-northeast of Scotia and 3.3 in Greeley.

Winter Weather in SHERMAN, NEBRASKA
From 24-OCT-20 22:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 05:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranged from 1 to 3 inches across most of the county, including an NWS observer total of 2.5 in Loup City.

Winter Weather in HOWARD, NEBRASKA
From 24-OCT-20 23:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 09:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Snowfall amounts ranged from 1 to 3 inches across most of the county, including a CoCoRaHS observer total of 3 two miles west of Elba.

Winter Weather in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 25-OCT-20 17:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Snowfall amounts ranged from 1 to 3 inches across most of the county, including CoCoRaHS observer totals of 3.1 four miles south of Cozad and 2 near Sumner.

Winter Weather in GOSPER, NEBRASKA
From 25-OCT-20 20:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranged from 1 to 3 inches across most of the county, including an NWS observer total of 2 eight miles south of Elwood.

Winter Weather in PHELPS, NEBRASKA
From 25-OCT-20 20:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Snowfall amounts ranged from 2 to 5 inches across the county, including CoCoRaHS observer totals of 5 near Wilcox and 3 near Holdrege.

Winter Weather in KEARNEY, NEBRASKA
From 25-OCT-20 20:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 09:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranged from 2 to 4 inches across most of the county, including NWS observer/CoCoRaHS totals of 3.5 in Minden and also near Wilcox.

Winter Weather in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 25-OCT-20 21:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 09:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranged from 2 to 6 inches across the county, including NWS observer/CoCoRaHS totals as high as 6 in Wilsonville and 3.7 six miles south of Beaver City.

Winter Weather in NANCE, NEBRASKA
From 24-OCT-20 23:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranged from 1 to 3 inches across most of the county, including NWS observer totals of 3.3 two miles west of Genoa and 2.7 at Belgrade.

Winter Weather in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 25-OCT-20 19:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 09:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Snowfall amounts ranged from 1 to 3 inches across most of the county, including an official total of 2.7 at NWS Hastings.

Winter Weather in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 25-OCT-20 21:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 09:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranged from 2 to 4 inches across most of the county, including an NWS observer total of 3 at Harlan County Lake.

Winter Weather in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 25-OCT-20 22:00:00 to 26-OCT-20 10:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Snowfall amounts ranged from 1 to 3 inches across most of the county, including NWS observer/CoCoRaHS totals of 2.5 six miles south of Wilcox and 1.5 in Franklin.