Winter storms hit area

Kimball experienced some rather intense snow that began close to Christmas.

Chris Hammer, a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Cheyenne, said that Kimball received roughly five inches of snowfall and experienced temperatures that dropped below zero. The windchill in Kimball reached a low of about -40 degrees.

“The reason for the Christmas storm Kimball experienced was a Pacific storm that blew into the western United States,” Hammer said,

This storm that moved in brought in cold temperatures and all the snowfall that gave Kimball a white Christmas.

“The storm that blew in really gained momentum as it travelled over the Rockies and blew into the western Nebraska and Southern panhandle areas,” Hammer said.

“You know what you guys are seeing in the Panhandle is pretty normal,” he added. There was just that big storm that pushed through and that made for some six to 12 inches of snowfall, and even then, Kimball saw about five inches of that.”

As for the winter ahead, Hammer does not note anything out of the ordinary.

“From what I can tell there aren’t any crazy storms coming up. Everything seems normal, Kimball in particular seems to be set to have some warmer temperatures for the next few weeks, temperatures in the 30s even warming up to the 40s it seems,” Hammer said.

While Hammer seems confident that Kimball and the panhandle are in for normal winter conditions, there is always a possibility of change when it comes to the weather.

“Weather can change in an instant and we’re always watching it to provide up to date information,” Hammer said.

From Hammer’s reports Kimball is not expected to see anything out of the ordinary in the coming weeks. However, he cautioned that things can always change and it is important to keep aware of weather conditions.