If you can think of one blizzard/snowstorm that has had the most impact on Omaha since 2000, which one would you pick? Many of you reading this would probably say the Christmas Blizzard of 2009. For nearly 4 days, the Midwest was subjected to heavy snow and high winds as a storm system refused to move away. The hardest hit areas were eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota. In this installment of This Week in Weather History, we look back at one of the most significant blizzards to impact the area since the storms of the 1990s.
THE LEAD-UP TO THE BLIZZARD
December 2009 was not only incredibly snowy for Omaha but for much of the country. By New Year's Eve 2009, 61% of the United States had snow cover, the most in any December. For Omaha, the snow came in two giant waves, the first came through on December 8-9, and the second with the Christmas Blizzard. For more context on what made December 2009 so snowy, it is detailed in the This Week in Weather History article on the December 8-9, 2009 snowstorm which you can find here.
In the days following the December 8-9 snowstorm that slammed the Midwest, another major storm system impacted the Mid-Atlantic. On December 18-20, a swath of heavy snow fell from the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia to New York. Washington DC picked up 16.4" of snow, its largest December snowstorm on record. Philadelphia picked up 23.2" of snow, for a time its second-largest snowfall in history until being surpassed a few months later by the February 2010 blizzard.
As the snow fell in the east, meteorologists were looking ahead to a possible major storm system that would impact the nation in the days leading up to Christmas. The main question was, where would it track? Original model runs were painting the snowfall to be south of Omaha. However, as the weekend (Dec 19-20) came the models began to trend northward placing Nebraska and Iowa in the path of the storm. Now the question was, what was going to fall?
What was certain was this storm system would have incredible amounts of moisture, meaning whatever fell would be heavy. If it was warmer, heavy rain could cause flooding on the melting snowpack. If it fell as freezing rain, then a crippling ice storm would ensue. If it fell as snow, totals could be into the double digits. It was a complex forecast, but forecasters on Monday (Dec 21) knew whatever happened it would be big.
This is shaping up to possibly be one of the stronger storms near Christmas in recent memory.
Preparations in Omaha began early that week, after the December 8 storm no one was messing around. Officials urged travelers to leave earlier or alter plans, people stocked up on supplies in stores. Since most people were off for the holidays, businesses could easily close, and schools were already released for Christmas.
Forecasts called for up to a quarter inch of ice in Omaha to fall the afternoon of December 23, then the snow would come on December 24-25 with upwards of 10" predicted.
Omaha, Nebraska, and Iowa were ready. Now it was a question of what exactly the weather would bring.
A UNIQUE WEATHER SET-UP
The atmosphere is complex, with many moving parts that interlock with each other to create our varied weather from day to day, but sometimes that is cranked up to an 11. Christmas 2009 was one of those times when three storm systems interacting with each other created the blizzard conditions seen in Nebraska and Iowa. The first system on the morning of December 23 was sitting in southeast Kansas. This is the weakest of the three systems but would be responsible for bringing up freezing rain into Nebraska and Iowa on the 23rd. The second system is the main player to pay attention to, sitting near El Paso TX on the morning of the 23rd, this would bring the blizzard. The third system was located over southern Canada, responsible for bringing the arctic air into the area to allow for blizzard conditions, as well as influencing the 2nd storm system.
On the 23rd, the first storm system moved northward into eastern KS/western MO, bringing a band of freezing rain to Nebraska and Iowa. Meanwhile, storm system 2 was moving across Texas, as storm system 3 slid into the northern Plains. Overnight from December 23 into December 24, the second storm system over Texas began to rapidly intensify as it started to curve northeastward towards Arkansas. This occurred while Storm 1 weakened over Missouri, being absorbed into the strengthening Storm 2. Storm 3 moved into Minnesota, where the stage was set for a spectacular weather event.
Through December 24 the second storm system moved due north from Arkansas, to Missouri, to Iowa, and strengthened. The reason why this storm took an unusual path was because of storm system 3. It is a phenomenon known as the Fujiwara Effect where the circulations of storm systems 2 and 3 get caught up with each other, forcing the storms to rotate around each other. This is what happened from December 24 to December 25, Storm System 2 got caught up in Storm System 3 and it turned northward while storm 3 was brought southward.
Even more strangely, on December 25 the storm system curved northwest through Iowa, where it would sit for the next 24 hours before weakening and eventually dying over the Great Lakes. The storm system began to occlude, a process where the cold air overtakes the warm air and starts to choke off the storm. As it sat over Iowa, the strong storm system produced copious snow amounts and high winds, creating hazardous blizzard conditions in Omaha.
THE BLIZZARD
December 23: The Icy Beginning
Beginning on December 23, Storm System 1 began to impact parts of Nebraska and Iowa as a band of freezing drizzle began to push in from the south. Freezing drizzle began before 8 am in Omaha, but as temperatures rose above freezing around 10 am rain fell for much of the day. The icing was enough to cause some slick spots in the metro, but the ice melted as temperatures went above freezing. Outside of the immediate core of the metro, freezing rain held on longer causing slick roads in western and northern Douglas County. Some power lines fell, causing power issues around Bennington.
The worst of the icing occurred in southern Nebraska, west of Lincoln. In Jefferson, Saline, and Seward Counties the ice accumulated to a quarter inch in spots. One power line was snapped along Highway 6 east of Friend in Saline County, and other wires were down near Wilber. By itself, the ice was not a serious concern for southern Nebraska. However, once the blizzard came through the strong winds caused widespread damage as the brittle trees and power lines snapped. Power went out in towns like Swanton in Saline County and Clatonia in Gage County, and 90% of trees in Milford southeast of Seward had some sort of damage.
By the afternoon, the band of freezing drizzle turned to snow over northeast Nebraska. By the morning of December 24, 1-3" had already fallen across northeast Nebraska. By the time the blizzard was over, another foot of snow would fall over the same areas.
December 24-26: The Blizzard
After a lull in activity the night of the 23rd into the 24th, snow began falling across Eastern Nebraska and western Iowa around late morning, and would not stop until early on December 26th. This snow was accompanied by winds gusting over 35 mph, so by 4 pm on Christmas Eve a Blizzard Warning was issued by the National Weather Service.
Travelers who couldn't get out until Christmas Eve faced hardship as blizzard conditions brought visibility to near-zero and the snow to pile up in drifts several feet high. By Christmas Eve night, only the major roads in Omaha were somewhat passable. Due to whiteout visibility, I-80 was closed from Gretna to Grand Island that night. Hotels in Lincoln, York, and Grand Island were filled as travelers spent the night inside.
The blizzard made it to where plans had to be canceled for those who only lived a few miles from each other. In some neighborhoods, makeshift block parties were held for those who couldn't make it to see their loved ones on Christmas. Many churches either restricted or canceled Christmas services, but a few continued with a few dozen people in attendance. Across the metro, the city sat at a standstill as the snow continued to fall.
Conditions were worse in the open plains of eastern Nebraska, where winds frequently gusted in the 40-50 mph range. Highways across several counties were closed as they became impassable, and many counties had to pull in their snow plows due to the conditions. In Boone County, west of Norfolk, every road was closed for a time as snow continued to pile up. Some drifts in northeast Nebraska topped 12-15' in some spots, particularly where over a foot of snow fell.
Tragically, the blizzard turned deadly in Nebraska. 6 people were killed in car accidents across the state. Near Waco in York County, an Omaha Fire Department Captain was killed when his car got into a head-on collision with a car, then struck by a semi. The driver of the other car also died. Three other accidents in western Nebraska on I-80 killed 3 people. In Otoe County, a woman was killed along Highway 2 when she lost control of her vehicle.
Snowfall totals ranged from around 5" near Fairbury to 22" in Wayne, but most communities received double-digit snowfall totals. It remains one of the largest widespread snow events in recent memory, coming just 2 weeks after another blizzard that brought double-digit snows.
It took days for the snow to be cleaned up, but the cold temperatures into January meant the snow was going nowhere. Snow depth in Omaha was at 14", 10" from the new storm and 4" from the Dec 8 blizzard. A few more snowstorms in early January 2010 brought the snow depth to 21", the 3rd highest snow depth since reliable data has been kept in 1948. Between December 7, 2009, and March 4, 2010, there was at least 1" of snow on the ground in Omaha. This is the longest stretch for snow depth of 1" or above (88 days), and the second longest was from 1983 when a blizzard hit Thanksgiving weekend and December became the coldest December on record allowing none of the snow to melt until early February 1984.
THE BLIZZARD ELSEWHERE
The Christmas Blizzard of 2009 was truly record-setting in its size, with blizzard conditions stretching from northern Texas to the Canadian border. The blizzard began in earnest across Texas and Oklahoma. Dallas had its first white Christmas in 80 years from the storm. In Oklahoma, blizzard conditions shut down the state on Christmas Eve and dropped as much as a foot of snow in some parts. Oklahoma City saw its record one-day snow total of over 10 inches. The blizzard became one of the worst in Oklahoma state history.
The heaviest snow fell from northeast Nebraska into South Dakota and western Minnesota, where some locations saw as much as 30" of snow. The blizzard went down in the record books as one of the worst blizzards in South Dakota history, and a few counties were declared federal disaster areas. Further east, the blizzard tapered off in intensity towards the Great Lakes.
On the severe weather side, tornadoes touched down in eastern Texas and western Louisiana. The strongest was an EF-3 which hit the town of Lufkin in eastern Texas. The storm also produced several inches of rain from Arkansas into Missouri and Illinois, nearly 7" of rain fell in Little Rock causing flooding. In St. Louis, rain of a few inches also caused creeks and streams to swell up, and in Illinois, some of the rain turned to ice causing problems in Chicago.
The Christmas Blizzard of 2009 was historic and remains one of the most powerful systems to impact the United States in the 21st century.
