In the Midwest, Blizzards are not an uncommon occurrence. On average, the National Weather Service in Omaha issues about 1 blizzard warning every year for some part of their coverage area, mostly in northeast Nebraska where the combination of heavy snow and strong winds are the greatest. For it to classify as a blizzard, snow amount is not a factor, but the wind. A blizzard constitutes winds at or above 35mph for at least 3 hours, which sometimes reduces visibility to near-whiteout conditions.
Since 2005, Douglas County has seen 7 storms that constitute a blizzard warning criteria: March 1, 2007; December 8, 2009; December 24, 2009; December 11, 2020; December 19, 2012; February 22, 2019; and January 14, 2021. While all of these were significant in their own right, the two blizzards that struck Nebraska and Iowa in December 2009 were unusual in the fact that they came in a short period.
While weather memories of December 2009 often look back to the "Christmas Blizzard", there was an equally powerful storm that hit Nebraska and Iowa just two weeks before. Sometimes overshadowed by the Christmas Blizzard, the blizzard which hit on December 8-9, 2009 was seen as one of the most significant snowstorms to impact the heartland in recent memory.
So while the Christmas Blizzard will get its spotlight in two weeks, for this installment of This Week in Weather History, we look at the first blizzard of 2009, which the National Weather Service in Des Moines called "A snowstorm for the ages".
WHY WAS DECEMBER 2009 SO SNOWY?
December 2009 would become one of the most active Decembers in US history in terms of snowfall, at least dating back to satellite data in 1966. According to a report from NOAA, at the beginning of the month around 11.2% of the continental United States had snow cover; by the end of the month, it was up to 60.3% of the country! Across the Midwest and Eastern US, December 2009 was the snowiest on record (this includes Omaha and Des Moines). So, why was December 2009 so snowy? The answer could lie in the broader climate pattern for North America.
The first part of the explanation for why December 2009 was so snowy could be tied to a strong El Nino in the Pacific, El Nino is the phenomenon where the waters in the Pacific near the Equator are warmer than average. The reverse is known as La Nina. These factors can have a major impact on the weather in the United States.
Since 1980, the years with a strong El Nino have been: 1983, 1987, 1991, 1997, 2009, and 2016. Curiously, many of these strong El Ninos have corresponded with some of the biggest early season snowstorms in Omaha history including the Thanksgiving Blizzard of 1983, the Halloween Blizzard of 1991, the October 25-26, 1997 Snowstorm, and the two Blizzards in 2009.
The second factor is known as the Arctic Oscillation (AO). The AO is tied to pressure in the Arctic region. When there is higher pressure in the Arctic, then AO is said to be negative, and vice versa. Negative AO is commonly associated with cold temperatures across the United States since higher pressure in the Arctic tends to lead to lower pressure over the US, and thus allows for more Canadian Air to spill down. In 2009-2010, the AO was at its strongest negative phase sense tracking began in 1950, meaning much of the United States was subjected to a chilly winter.
The combination of a moderate El Nino and a very strong negative AO combined to produce a cold and snowy winter of 2009-2010, and it began with an extremely active December 2009.
THE BUILD-UP TO THE BLIZZARD
December 2009 began active, with the first snow event of the season occurring on December 4th in the most unlikely place, the southeast. Snow fell from eastern Texas into Alabama, Houston saw 1" of snow, and some spots in Mississippi picked up almost 5" of snow. For many of these cities, it was the earliest snowfall on record.
From December 6th into December 7th, the first of two storm systems began to move over the country. This first cold front brought a round of snow 1-3" across eastern NE into western IA.
As this first system was moving on, a much stronger system began to develop in Nevada. It gathered strength as it approached Colorado. Unlike the one that just impacted Nebraska and Iowa, this next system was much stronger and had much more moisture to work with. Meteorologists days in advance knew this storm system was about to be a big one.
Hints at a big storm system were seen by forecasters as early as December 5, and as the date drew closer the storm system only grew more concerning. Forecasts began with 4-8" of snow for Omaha, then increased to 6-10" on December 6, and finally reached a forecast of 7-11" of snow by December 7.
During the day on December 7, the low-pressure system began to move into Colorado, and the snow began falling across eastern Nebraska into western Iowa. By the morning of December 8, the powerful storm system began moving into Kansas, where it continued to gain strength as it moved into Missouri by the afternoon hours. All the while, the storm continued to strengthen, and the winds increased. Wind gusts across the Midwest were as high as 40-50mph as the snow continued to fall. It wasn't until the morning of December 9 that the snowfall began to wind down, but in its wake, it left a mess across the Midwest.
THE BLIZZARD
Omaha was well-prepared as the snow began to fall on December 7, and continued to fall through December 8 into the morning of December 9. Schools were canceled the night before, and many wouldn't be open for 3 days. Many businesses closed too, so many people were home as the snow fell, much to the delight of children.
Adding to the snow was the wind, wind gusts of 40-50 mph were common across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Eppley Airfield saw a max wind gust to 52mph, while unofficial sites saw wind gusts approach 60mph. This led to scattered instances of tree and powerline damage, and scattered power outages. However, unlike the snowstorms of the 1990s, the power outages were less numerous.
The biggest issue the wind caused was snow removal, as snowplows worked to clear streets, the wind would just push the snow back onto the streets. Not to mention the blowing snow caused visibility reductions and near whiteout conditions at times. For the city of Omaha, the December 2009 snowstorm was the first test of a new method for plowing city streets, pushing the snow to the center of the streets to open the lanes.
The problem was worse in the open fields outside Omaha, where county snowplow services continually had to plow streets time and time again as the snow was blown back onto the roads. In some counties in eastern Nebraska, snowplows were removed from service until the wind died down.
The snowfall totals were heavy, with many locations receiving double-digit snowfalls. In Omaha, between 9-12" fell across the city. 9.6" fell at Eppley Airfield, 12" in Valley, Boys Town, and Gretna, and 11" in downtown. Combined with the 2" of snow from the days before, some locations in the metro received up to 15" of snow in that week alone.
South and east of the metro, snowfall totals were even higher, with many locations receiving over a foot. The heaviest snowfall totals were in western to central Iowa, where locations such as Atlantic and Audubon saw over 16" of snow. Des Moines picked up over 15" of snow, placing the December 8-9, 2009 blizzard as one of the largest snowstorms in the city's history.
Iowa Snow - December 8-9, 2009
Footage from the KMTV Archives of the blizzard of December 8-9, 2009 in western Iowa
Tragically, the blizzard in Omaha proved deadly. 2 deaths are directly attributed to the snowstorm, and one indirect. One man had car troubles and couldn't get into his apartment, and sat down on a chair where he succumbed to the elements. One young woman was killed in her southwest Omaha apartment parking lot when a snowplow backed into her. One other man suffered a heart attack while shoveling snow.
The December 8-9, 2009 blizzard left a wide swath of snow across much of the Midwest. Until the Christmas Blizzard 2 weeks later, it was one of the most powerful snowstorms to impact the region in the 21st century, with only the March 1, 2007 storm coming close. Iowa was the hardest hit, but Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin also bore a significant brunt of the storm. In Missouri, it was one of the first blizzards in the state's history since 1982.
As if the snow and wind were not brutal enough, then the cold came. Following the blizzard, a blast of arctic air from Canada swarmed into the United States. Temperatures fell below 0, and wind chill values dropped as low as -30 in some spots of central Nebraska.
The cold air lasted several days before moderating some, although the snow would never completely go away. By Christmas Eve, 3" of snow remained on the ground in Omaha when the second blizzard slammed the region, the Christmas Blizzard of 2009.
