Hastings, NE

Weather Forecast Office

2020 Precipitation Map (Entire Coverage Area) and 2020 Monthly Stats for 5 Specific Sites (including Tri Cities))

2020 Precipitation Summary and Monthly Details for 5 Sites (Including Tri Cities):
(see tabs below for site-specific details)

2020 Precipitation Map and list of several official totals
(click to enlarge)

Following 2 rather wet years in 2018-19 (especially 2019), things took a noticeably-drier turn in 2020, sending nearly our entire 30-county coverage area into varying degrees of drought during the latter half of the year. Based on ground-truth measurements from dozens of NWS and CoCoRaHS/NeRAIN observers and also radar-estimated analysis, roughly 90% of our area received at least slightly below-normal annual precipitation, and around half of it tallied no more than 75% normal (based on official 30-year normals from NCEI). With little exception, the overall-driest areas (overall and versus normal) focused within several Nebraska counties along and west of the Highway 281 corridor, along with portions of particularly Phillips/Smith counties in north central KS. In contrast, the overall-wettest areas concentrated mainly in far eastern portions of our Nebraska area (especially parts of Thayer/Nuckolls/Fillmore counties) along with much of Mitchell/Osborne/Jewell counties in KS. However, even in the comparably-wetter areas, Thayer and Mitchell were the only two counties in our 30-county area to see predominantly slightly-above normal precipitation.

As evidenced in the list of wettest/driest locations on the graphic, there were actually some fairly dramatic differences in annual totals between locations not all that far apart geographically. One prime example of this involved Hebron (37.22") versus Hastings airport (16.74"), an ASTOUNDING DIFFERENCE of 20.48" between locations barely more than 50 miles apart (as the crow flies)! In fact, versus its 30-year normal, Hastings airport was actually the overall-driest official NWS station in the entire area during 2020, registering its 9th-driest year on record out of 126 and measuring LESS THAN HALF of what fell in 2019 (16.74" vs. 35.20").

In summary: 2020 was considerably-drier than the preceding few years, as roughly 90% of our coverage area measured at least slightly below normal precipitation (with various locations mainly near/west of the Highway 281 corridor finishing 5-10" below normal).

Please note:
- You can look up daily/monthly/annual temp/precip data for ALL official NWS cooperative observer and airport stations in our area with NOWData
- You can do your own daily/monthly/annual precipitation analysis (including generating maps) using the NWS AHPS page

2020 Nebraska Cooperative Observer Precipitation Totals (around 45 sites)
2020 Kansas Cooperative Observer Precipitation Totals (around 15 sites)

Top Weather Events of 2020 Story (For Our Coverage Area)

G. I./Hastings Details
Kearney
Ord
Smith Center

Grand Island & Hastings Details - 12-Month Climate History:

Grand Island (Regional Airport ASOS) - Jan. 2020 - Dec. 2020

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

2020

Average High (F)

35.0

44.1

53.5

64.7

69.9

90.2

88.0

88.1

78.7

63.5

58.9

43.5

Average Low (F)

19.7

19.8

32.5

34.1

49.7

65.1

66.7

64.9

51.6

37.1

31.7

21.1

Average Temperature (F)

27.4

31.9

43.0

49.4

59.8

77.6

77.4

76.1

65.2

50.3

45.3

32.3

53.0

Departure From Normal

+2.3

+2.8

+3.6

-1.2

-1.4

+6.3

+1.2

+2.1

+0.1

-1.9

+7.2

+5.6

+2.2

Precipitation (in)

1.18

0.11

2.86

0.76

7.48

1.82

4.55

0.54

1.24

0.08

1.16

1.20

22.98

Departure From Normal

+0.65

-0.57

+1.06

-1.77

+3.07

-2.48

+1.15

-2.58

-0.99

-1.78

-0.01

+0.57

-3.68

Snowfall (in)

4.3

2.0

4.5

3.9

0.0

T

0.7

0.8

12.0

Departure From Normal

-2.2

-4.3

-0.9

+2.4

0.0

-0.1

-0.3

-2.3

+6.9

Hastings (Municipal Airport ASOS) - Jan. 2020 - Dec. 2020

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

2020

Average High (F)

35.3

43.5

54.1

64.0

69.6

89.1

88.4

87.6

77.5

62.3

58.1

43.5

Average Low (F)

19.8

32.7

33.8

49.5

65.1

66.8

64.2

52.6

37.5

32.1

22.5

Average Temperature (F)

27.5

31.6

43.4

48.9

59.5

77.1

77.6

75.9

65.1

49.9

45.1

33.0

52.9

Departure From Normal

+1.5

+1.7

+3.5

-1.8

+5.3

+0.5

+1.6

-0.5

-2.7

+6.4

+5.4

+1.6

Precipitation (in)

0.98

0.13

2.19

0.88

4.50

0.97

3.14

0.39

1.16

0.21

1.38

0.81

16.74

Departure From Normal

+0.57

-0.36

+0.40

-1.68

-0.07

-2.83

-0.60

-2.91

-1.40

-1.78

+0.09

+0.20

-10.37

Snowfall (in)

4.1

2.1

5.3

2.5

0.0

T

2.8

0.2

11.1

Departure From Normal

-1.9

-4.4

+0.1

+1.3

0.0

-0.2

+1.8

-2.4

+5.0

Kearney - 12 Month Climate History:

All data here is from the official NWS observer at Kearney airport, with 24-hour observations taken around 7 a.m. ** PLEASE NOTE: This official Kearney data often differs slightly from the unofficial data recorded by the automated airport system (KEAR) **

Kearney Airport (Coop Observer) - Jan. 2020 - Dec. 2020

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

2020

Average High (F)

35.2

42.6

53.0

62.1

68.7

88.8

88.2

77.9

62.1

58.6

42.6

Average Low (F)

18.2

18.6

30.9

31.8

47.7

64.1

66.2

62.7

49.9

35.3

30.4

19.3

Average Temperature (F)

26.7

30.6

42.0

47.0

58.2

76.5

77.2

75.4

63.9

48.7

44.5

31.0

51.8

Departure From Normal

+2.1

+2.5

+4.3

-1.7

-1.3

+6.7

+2.5

+2.8

+0.4

-2.2

+7.5

+5.1

+2.4

Precipitation (in)

0.82

0.27

2.13

0.77

6.66

1.67

1.81

0.35

1.14

0.17

0.60

0.91

17.30

Departure From Normal (in)

+0.33

-0.28

+0.34

-1.46

+2.48

-2.26

-1.47

-2.73

-0.93

-1.87

-0.42

+0.34

-7.93

Snowfall (in)

1.8

2.9

6.2

3.0

0.0

2.0

0.8

11.0

Departure From Normal (in)

-2.6

-2.2

+1.6

+1.2

0.0

-0.2

+1.3

-2.3

+7.5

Ord - 12 Month Climate History:

All snowfall data is from the NWS Cooperative Observer in town. In addition, winter precipitation totals often include Cooperative Observer data given that the automated airport equipment is not designed to accurately melt snowfall liquid equivalent.

Ord (Evelyn Sharp Field ASOS) - Jan. 2020 - Dec. 2020

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

2020

Average High (F)

34.5

42.3

52.5

61.3

67.0

87.0

77.0

60.5

58.0

43.8

Average Low (F)

16.6

15.5

29.2

28.9

45.2

60.8

63.0

60.2

47.5

32.1

24.6

16.1

Average Temperature (F)

25.6

28.9

40.8

45.1

56.1

73.9

75.0

73.6

62.3

46.3

41.3

30.0

49.9

Departure From Normal

+1.0

+1.1

+3.1

-3.7

-3.2

+4.7

+0.6

-1.3

-3.3

+5.0

+5.1

+0.8

Precipitation (in)

0.77

0.14

2.30

0.70

4.14

2.59

7.79

0.28

0.57

1.16

0.77

0.73

21.94

Departure From Normal (in)

+0.40

-0.30

+0.85

-1.89

+0.33

-1.53

+4.82

-2.88

-1.87

-0.77

-0.30

+0.14

-3.00

Snowfall (in)

4.8

3.8

7.0

5.0

0.0

9.5

2.7

12.5

Departure From Normal (in)

-2.0

-2.2

+1.1

+2.5

0.0

+8.4

-4.7

+5.1

Smith Center, KS - 12 Month Climate History:

All data is from the official NWS observer, with 24-hour observations taken around 7 a.m. As a result, data may vary slightly from a true "Calendar Day".

Smith Center KS (NWS Coop Observer) - Jan. 2020 - Dec. 2020

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

2020

Average High (F)

39.4

45.9

57.2

66.8

72.3

92.0

90.8

90.0

80.0

65.0

62.0

47.2

Average Low (F)

20.0

18.0

31.6

33.9

47.5

63.3

66.7

62.9

50.9

37.5

31.3

21.7

Average Temperature (F)

29.7

32.3

44.4

50.4

59.9

77.7

78.7

76.4

65.4

51.3

46.7

34.4

53.9

Departure From Normal

+2.0

+0.3

+2.8

-2.1

-3.8

+3.7

-1.0

-0.8

-2.8

-3.5

+6.3

+5.6

+0.5

Precipitation (in)

0.92

0.09

0.87

0.26

3.59

2.59

9.66

0.38

0.90

0.05

1.26

0.12

20.69

Departure From Normal (in)

+0.43

-0.49

-1.00

-2.01

-0.33

-1.02

+5.79

-2.92

-1.14

-1.83

+0.04

-0.54

-5.02

Snowfall (in)

1.9

0.8

1.3

T

0.0

0.6

T

1.8

Departure From Normal (in)

-1.8

-3.3

-1.3

-0.6

0.0

-0.2

+0.2

-1.8

-1.4

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