Between the afternoon of Wednesday the 15th and mid-morning of Thursday the 16th, primarily the southern three-fourths of South Central Nebraska experienced a moderately-strong winter storm that deposited widespread snow totals of mainly 5-9 inches mostly within counties south of Interstate 80 (along with southern York County), and lesser amounts of generally 1-4 in counties along the I-80 corridor (along with Polk County). Meanwhile, the far northern reaches of the area (particularly most of Valley/Greeley counties) saw less than 1 of snow, if hardly any. Though not overly-strong by Central Plains standards, north winds were certainly a factor as well, with sustained speeds commonly 20-25 MPH/gusts 30-35 MPH prompting modest blowing/drifting. Per dozens of NWS and NeRAIN/CoCoRaHS observers, some of the very-highest totals featured: 11.0 in Beaver City, 10.5 near Wilcox, 10.0 at Harlan County Lake, 9.0 four miles south of Shickley and 8.7 four miles southwest of Blue Hill. In the Tri Cities, Hastings was the clear winner with 6.5 at the NWS office, while amounts steadily dropped off just to the north and northwest, with 4.0 at Kearney and only 1.7 in Grand Island. Although this snow contained a beneficial dose of much-needed liquid moisture content, it was also a somewhat dry in nature given that temperatures were fairly cold, averaging in the teens (F). This blanket of fresh snow did not stick around very long, as a steady warm-up into the 30s, 40s and even 50s between the 17th-20th spurred a steady melt-off.
Taking a closer look at the timing and meteorological background behind this event, the first bands of light to moderate snow lifted into the area from the south-southwest between 2-4 p.m. on the 15th, laying down a thin coating on roads just in time for the evening commute. However, the main event clearly unfolded under the cover of darkness, with the heaviest snow bands slowly traversing South Central Nebraska from west-to-east between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. on the 16th, with most areas catching a break in snow intensity prior to the main morning commute. In the mid-upper levels, the primary player was a large-scale, positively-tilted trough slowly shifting across the central United States. In the mid-levels (particularly evident at 700 millibars), a compact, closed low intensified over the Nebraska-Kansas border during the night as it lifted northeast out of eastern Colorado. Strong frontogenetical forcing along the northern fringes of this low subsequently prompted the development of a relatively narrow/focused mesoscale snow band, with amounts of 6+ inches within/near the local area largely confined to a west-southwest to east-northeast swath only about 40 miles wide. At the surface, South Central Nebraska resided well to the north of a sharp frontal zone stretched from the Southern Plains into the Ohio Valley, with the seasonably-cold airmass and gusty north winds driven by a decent pressure gradient between a 1003 millibar low that tracked from Oklahoma into Arkansas during the night and a sprawling 1033 millibar high centered over the Northern Rockies.

Winter Storm in ADAMS, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 4 to 8 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 8.0 inches, measured by the public five miles north-northwest of Lawrence, 6 to 7 inches, measured by multiple sources across the Hastings area; 6.5 inches, measured at the NWS Hastings office four miles north of Hastings.

Winter Weather in GOSPER, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 05:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 2 to 6 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 5.8 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer eight miles south of Elwood; 2.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer at the Canaday Steam Plant located six miles south-southeast of Lexington.

Winter Weather in DAWSON, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 05:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 1 to 4 inches across the county. The highest reported amount was 3.0, measured by a CoCoRaHS observer six miles southwest of Lexington.

Winter Weather in BUFFALO, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 1 to 4 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included 4.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Kearney, and 3.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Ravenna.

Winter Weather in HALL, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: CoCoRaHS

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 1 to 4 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included 2.5 inches, measured by a CoCoRaHS observer four miles east-northeast of Doniphan, and 1.7 inches in Grand Island, per the Official NWS Observation near Central Nebraska Regional Airport.

Winter Weather in POLK, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 16:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 2 to 4 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 3.4 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer three miles northeast of Shelby; 2.8 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observers in Osceola and in Polk.

Winter Weather in HAMILTON, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 1 to 4 inches across the county based on surrounding area observations.

Winter Weather in YORK, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 2 to 6 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 5.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Bradshaw; 4.5 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer three miles west of Gresham; 4.0 inches, measured by the public in Benedict; 3.2 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer three miles north of York.

Winter Storm in FURNAS, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 14:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 05:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 4 to 11 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 11.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Beaver City; 8.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Wilsonville; 6.5 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer six miles north-northwest of Oxford; 5.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Edison.

Winter Storm in HARLAN, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 14:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 6 to 11 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 10.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer at Harlan County Lake; 7.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer near Orleans.

Winter Storm in NUCKOLLS, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 14:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 4 to 8 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 7.0 inches, measured by a CoCoRaHS observer eight miles northwest of Superior; 6.5 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Superior and by a CoCoRaHS observer in Lawrence; 6.0 inches, measured by emergency management six miles northwest of Nora.

Winter Storm in FRANKLIN, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 14:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 6 to 11 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 10 inches, estimated by the public in Hildreth; 10.0 inches, measured by a CoCoRaHS observer six miles south of Wilcox; 8.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Naponee; 7.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Franklin.

Winter Storm in WEBSTER, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 14:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 4 to 8 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 8.7 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer four miles southwest of Blue Hill; 6.0 inches, measured by a CoCoRaHS observer four miles east of Red Cloud, 5.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Red Cloud.

Winter Storm in THAYER, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 4 to 8 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 8.0 inches, measured by a CoCoRaHS observer six miles southeast of Davenport; 5.6 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Hebron; 5.5 inches, measured by the public two miles south of Carleton; 5.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative observer in Hubbell.

Winter Storm in FILLMORE, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 08:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 5 to 9 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 9.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer four miles south of Shickley; 7.5 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Geneva; 5.5 inches, measured by CoCoRaHS observers two miles west-southwest of Tobias and three miles south-southeast of Grafton.

Winter Storm in CLAY, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 07:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 4 to 8 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 6.5 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer six miles east-southeast of Clay Center; 6.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Clay Center and also by the public six miles east of Pauline.

Winter Storm in KEARNEY, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 6 to 11 inches across the county. Highest reported amount was 8.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Minden.

Winter Storm in PHELPS, NEBRASKA
From 15-FEB-23 15:00:00 to 16-FEB-23 06:00:00 (CST-6)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Storm total snow amounts were estimated to have generally ranged from 6 to 11 inches across the county. Highest reported amounts included: 10.5 inches, measured by a CoCoRaHS observer one mile north-northwest of Wilcox; 7.0 inches, measured by the NWS Cooperative Observer in Holdrege.