Wind And Low Temps Can Be Deadly

When the subject is wind chill, the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) can’t be beat in its simple and starkly direct warning: “…the combination of wind and low temperature in winter can be deadly!” It’s hard to miss the point. Yet, out-of-state guest hunters come to the pine ridge annually with the idea that our mild November temperatures and low precipitation are no big deal.

I saw this attitude first hand one November evening. Two hunters from the upper mid-west got lost after dark trying to recover a downed deer. They had hunted all day in sunny, 60+F weather with only shirts and light jersey’s. By the time we found them, they seemed shocked that temperature had taken a nosedive and the wind chill was now hovering in the low 20sF thanks to a moderate breeze. Thanks to cell phones, this was not a survival situation but it could have been if they had to spend a couple of hours looking for their truck.

This frames the issue in starkly simple terms. “The combination of wind and low temperature in winter can be deadly!” Hence, a good place to begin your preparations is to consider the potential for dangerous wind chills.

According to the NWS, average November temperatures in Nebraska range between 50ºF and 22ºF with about half an inch of precipitation. So far, so good. But, when November’s average winds of 13 mile per hour are combined with evening temperatures of 22ºF, life threatening wind chills as low as 10ºF can result! If either winds or temperatures are much lower, wind chill numbers can quickly dip into negative territory. What was once a walk in the woods can suddenly turn into a survival situation. It’s not difficult to understand that averages can be deceptive and are not the only numbers you need to consider when planning your hunt.

Take a look at the above table from the University of Nebraska’s School of Natural Resources (myforecast.com) and consider the numbers for record temperatures, wind speeds and snowfall. Although seasonal averages reflect relatively benign conditions for November’s hunting season, record numbers show how extreme weather conditions can get on Nebraska’s Pine Ridge! The U.S. National Weather Service Windchill Chart below is a useful resource for identifying dangerous wind chills.

Fast Building Storms Bring Wind and Low Temps

Beyond winds and temperatures, Nebraska is notorious for fast building storms. These are storms that seem to come out of nowhere. Within the space of a couple of hours, they can transform a mild day into a life threatening mix of cold, wind, rain or snow and very limited visibility.

According to meteorologists, “Nebraska is one of the toughest places in the nation for which to forecast weather.”1 This is because Nebraska’s weather is due to our gently sloped topography that gradually rises 3,000 feet as you travel from Omaha to Crawford. This creates what Ken Dewey, an Applied Climatologist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, called a weather “battle zone“.2 In this zone, cold Arctic air masses collide with humid air masses from the Gulf of Mexico and dry air from the Rockies.

Determining which of these air masses is stronger, when and where collisions will occur and the kind of weather they will produce is extraordinarily difficult. For the prudent hunter, this means that getting a weather forecast is only a good first step in the planning process. The next step is to incorporate plans for handling extreme weather.

The fall hunting season is one of the most beautiful times of the year on Nebraska’s Pine Ridge. Variable winds that bring mild weather one day can bring high winds, cold and snow the next and shut down your hunting. Weather drives not only the obvious choices of clothing and boots, but also your choice of hunting tactics, how far you will travel and when you will call it a day and return to camp. To avoid the dreaded survival situation, here are a few tips that will make your Little Sage Ranch hunt a safe and enjoyable one for the whole family.

Each hunting season, we have high expectations for mild fall weather and great hunts. At the same time, we also prepare for wind and low temperature. The best advice we can give guest hunters is to plan for a range of weather conditions and monitor National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) broadcasts. It’s always a good idea to let someone know where you are going before venturing out.