Apr. 2014: Weather/Climate Review and Extremes

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* Please Note: All climate data presented here are preliminary and have not undergone final quality control by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Therefore, these data are subject to revision. Final and certified climate data can be accessed at: WWW.NCDC.NOAA.GOV. 

April 2014 Climate And Weather Review For South Central Nebraska
And Portions Of North Central Kansas

...A Much-Needed Month of Near-Normal to Above Normal Precipitation in Most Areas...As Temperatures Averaged Near-Normal...

The following narrative focuses on climate and weather highlights for the month of April 2014 across the NWS Hastings coverage area, encompassing 24 counties in south central and central Nebraska, and 6 counties in north central Kansas. Click here for a map of this coverage area. The temperature and precipitation data presented here are largely based on the NWS Cooperative Observer network, along with data from a handful of automated airport sites. All climate averages and "normals" presented here are based on the official NCDC 1981-2010 normals.

- TEMPERATURES...(According to 30-year averages, "normal" April high temperatures in South Central Nebraska gradually climb from the upper 50s early in the month to the upper 60s by month's end. In North Central Kansas, highs gradually warm from the low 60s to near 70. Low temperatures across the area generally climb from the low or mid-30s early in the month to the mid-40s by month's end...)

Based on the monthly average temperature (resulting from averaging together the daily highs and lows), temperatures were not all that "newsworthy" during April 2014, as the majority of the NWS Hastings coverage area ended up within 1° either side of the 30-year normal. Despite the prevalent near-normal monthly averages, some places ended or continued some fairly notable monthly temperature streaks. For one, Hastings airport finally ended a six-month streak of at least slightly below normal readings, while the NWS cooperative observer station at Smith Center KS continued its colder-than-normal streak with a seventh-consecutive month of at least slightly below normal temperatures.

For most of the 30-county area, April began and ended on a seasonably chilly note, while the heart of the month was fairly mild. At Hastings airport, where temperature trends were generally representative of much of the 30-county as a whole, 16 of the 30 April days featured an above normal average temperature, all of which occurred between the 5th-27th. The most persistent above normal period at Hastings was a 10-day stretch from the 18th-27th, during which all days reached at least 70° and two days reached at least 80°. Meanwhile, there were three distinct brief stretches of below normal readings: from the 1st-4th, the 13th-17th and the 28th-30th. Of the 12 total days during these cooler stretches, nine of them failed to reach 55° in Hastings. Eight April days featured low temperatures of 32°-or-colder in Hastings, all of which occurred before the 18th (however, for much of the 30-county area April did not end up featuring the last freeze of the spring season, as many places ended up dropping to at-or-slightly-below 32° in mid-May). The most extreme day-to-day change in April high temperatures in Hastings was 25°, consisting of a decent cool-down from 74° on the 27th to only 49° on the 28th.

Per dozens of NWS cooperative observers and a few automated airport sites, the warmest high temperatures of the month primarily occurred on one of three days (the 9th, 23rd, or 26th). This included the first 90° readings of 2014 within the local area, as this value was reached at Cambridge (on the 26th), two miles southwest of Alton KS (on the 9th) and four miles west-northwest of Plainville KS (on the 9th and 26th). On the other end of the thermometer, most locations recorded their coldest lows of the month on either the 1st or 15th, highlighted by readings of 9° at Greeley (on the 1st), 15° two miles southwest of Alton KS (on the 15th) and 16° at Ord airport (on the 15th). Among the official Nebraska Tri-Cities airport temperature stations, all three cities tied for the warmest April reading of 84°, as Grand Island and Hastings reached this mark on the 9th, while the NWS cooperative observer at the Kearney airport reached 84° on both the 9th and 23rd. The coldest Tri-Cities low temperature during April belonged to Hastings, which dropped to 20° on the 1st.

(Please look farther down the page for more information on April 2014 temperatures and extremes, including detailed breakdowns for Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney and Ord.)


- PRECIPITATION/SNOWFALL/FLOODING...(According to 30-year averages, "normal" April precipitation (rainfall and snow liquid equivalent) totals between 2.00 and 2.50 inches across roughly the western half of the NWS Hastings coverage area (generally west of Highway 281) and between 2.50 and 3.00 inches for locations east of the Highway 281 corridor. Normal April snowfall ranges from 1-2 inches across most of South Central Nebraska, and less than 1 inch in North Central Kansas...)

For the majority of the 30-county NWS Hastings coverage area, April finally brought some much-needed moisture and near-to-above normal monthly precipitation. In many places, the majority of this precipitation fell during the latter one-third of the month, and stemmed the tide of what had been a concerningly-dry late fall, winter and early spring. In fact, for places such as Grand Island and Hastings, the roughly 5.5 month stretch from Nov. 6, 2013-April 22, 2014 went down as the 4th-driest on record in Grand Island (1.98”) and 7th-driest in Hastings (2.42”) between those particular dates out of 118 years of records. Because of this, the generally 1-3” (and locally higher) rain event that targeted much of the area from the 23rd-24th was extremely welcomed. At several places, including Grand Island, Hastings and Kearney, April ended a streak of 5-consecutive months of at least slightly below normal precipitation. Unfortunately however, not everybody in the 30-county area benefited from sufficient April precipitation, as locations such as Ord airport recorded its 7th-consecutive month of below normal precipitation. 

Based on reports from around 65 NWS Cooperative Observers and a few automated airport gauges, and also incorporating radar-derived estimation, roughly 60% of the 30-county area observed at least slightly above normal April precipitation, and over 70% of the area ended up within 1” either side of normal April precipitation (meaning generally between 1.50-3.50”). In other words, even for the roughly 40% of the area that received below normal precipitation, most of these places received at least 1.50” for the month and thus were not “bone dry”. Thanks primarily to the aforementioned round of thunderstorms from the 23rd-24th, the most concentrated zone of above normal April precipitation focused in a rather narrow, roughly 30-mile wide corridor extending from around Phillips and Harlan counties in the southwest, and then northeast through the Minden, Hastings, Grand Island, Aurora and Osceola areas. As for monthly precipitation extremes (from NWS cooperative observers unless noted otherwise), a few of the highest totals featured 5.89” two miles west of Doniphan (NeRAIN observer), 5.29” at Bradshaw, 5.21” at Polk and 4.92” at Wilcox (NeRAIN). One of the highest 24-hour-or-less rainfall totals of the month was 4.15” at the NeRAIN site two miles west of Doniphan, which fell from the 23rd-24th. On the less-fortunate side of things, a few of the lowest April precipitation totals within the area originated from Arcadia (0.83”), Ord airport (1.26”), near Covert KS (1.49”) and Hubbell (1.50”). Among the official Nebraska Tri-Cities airport precipitation sites, Hastings led the way with 3.93”, followed by Kearney (3.35”) and Grand Island (2.91”).

As for April 2014 snowfall, the majority of the 30-county area observed near-to-slightly-above normal totals of 1-3”. However, a notable exception of higher snow amounts generally in the 4-7” range occurred in a corridor through much of the northern and western portions of South Central Nebraska, thanks primarily to a heavier-than-expected snow band on the 13th. This event, which ended up being the last significant snowfall of the 2013-2014 winter season for the area, resulted in at least a brief closure of Interstate 80 in Buffalo County and caused several power outages due to the combination of the wet, heavy snow and strong winds. A few of the highest reported snow totals on the 13th from NeRAIN observers included 7.5” three miles west of Elba and 7.0” seven miles south of Litchfield. Per NWS cooperative observers, a few of the highest monthly snowfall amounts featured 7.4” at Wolbach, 7.0” two miles west of Genoa and 6.2” at Ravenna. Official Nebraska Tri-Cities April snow totals included 2.2” at Hastings, 1.7” at Grand Island and 0.7” at Kearney. For the 2013-2014 snowfall season, Grand Island and Hastings finished solidly below normal with totals of 16.4” and 21.7”, respectively. At Grand Island, the 16.4” total was 12.6” below the 30-year normal of 29.0”. Not including unreliable snowfall data from 1906-1912, this was Grand Island’s 17th least-snowy season on record out of 113 years.

As for any possible April flooding issues, NWS Hastings neither detected nor received reports of any noteworthy flooding during the month. Despite the narrow corridor of heavy rain that fell on the 23rd-24th, the several months of prevailing drier-than-normal conditions leading up to that event helped keep even minor flooding in check. 

(Please look farther down the page for more information on April 2014 precipitation/snowfall and extremes, including rankings of wettest and driest locations, percent-of-normal plots, and a detailed breakdown for Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney and Ord. In addition, the link on the far upper right of this page contains an archive of monthly/annual precipitation and snowfall totals for around 70 locations.)


- DROUGHT STATUS (see images at bottom of page)...Although the majority of the local area measured near-normal to slightly above normal April precipitation (most of which fell during the latter one-third of the month), the lingering influence of several prior months of predominantly dry conditions resulted in relatively little change in drought classification according to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor. That being said, a handful of counties did observe either a one-category improvement or degradation. Most notably, far southern portions of Rooks and Osborne counties in Kansas slipped into category D3 Extreme Drought, marking the first time since Sep. 2013 (7 months ago) that any portion of the NWS Hastings coverage area was categorized in D3 Extreme. 

Getting into more specifics, and starting with the 24-county Nebraska portion of the area: The majority of the area either remained in, or degraded to category D1 Moderate Drought over the course of the month, including several counties east of Highway 281 which had previously been in category D0 Abnormally Dry (considered to be one category better than “true” drought). On the worst-off side of things, D2 Severe Drought remained firmly in place at month's end within several western counties, including large portions of Furnas, Gosper, Dawson and Valley counties, along with small slivers of Sherman and Phelps counties. However, southern Harlan County shook free of D2 Severe Drought late in the month. On the most-positive note of all during April, most locations generally 15 miles either side of a line extending from near Wilcox-Gibbon-Dannebrog improved to D0 Abnormally Dry by month's end, thanks in large part to a narrow swath of 2-4" of rain that fell on the 23rd. This late-month improvement to D0 Abnormally Dry conditions included large portions of several counties including: Kearney, Phelps, Buffalo, Hall and Howard. Farther south within the six local Kansas counties, the majority of the area remained in D2 Severe Drought over the course of April. However, limited areas observed one-category improvement or degradation. As earlier mentioned, far southern Rooks and Osborne counties degraded to D3 Extreme Drought, while on a more positive note, most of Phillips along with northwestern Smith counties improved to D1 Moderate Drought.

Looking beyond the borders of the NWS Hastings coverage area to account for the entire states of Nebraska and Kansas, Nebraska observed a slight increase in the cumulative areal coverage of D1 Moderate to D3 Extreme Drought during April, while the coverage of Moderate-or-worse drought in Kansas essentially remained unchanged: As of April 29th, 70% of Nebraska and 99% of Kansas was assigned D1 Moderate-or-worse Drought (compared to 64% and 99%, respectively, back on April 1st).


- SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS/HIGH WINDS...April featured the first two severe thunderstorm events of 2014 within the NWS Hastings coverage area, occurring on Wednesday the 23rd and Sunday the 27th. On the 23rd, a fairly narrow corridor of mainly hail and heavy-rain producing storms flared up along a southwest-to-northeast axis across the heart of the local area during the afternoon and evening. While many places in the affected areas reported hail up to quarter size, stones as large as 2" in diameter were reported near Prosser in Adams County. On a positive note, this round of storms delivered a much-needed, soaking rain of at least 1" to much of the area, with a narrow corridor of 2-3" amounts and locally higher. Four days later on the afternoon of the 27th, the NWS Hastings coverage area observed its first 3 confirmed tornadoes of 2014, all of which were rated EF-0 and occurred in northern Franklin, northwestern York and northwestern Polk counties. In fact, these were also the first 3 tornadoes of 2014 within the entire state of Nebraska. In addition to the brief tornadoes, hail ranging from quarter to golf ball size was reported in several locations within the Nebraska portion of the local coverage area. Meanwhile, local North Central Kansas counties were spared any threat of severe thunderstorms on the 27th thanks to being positioned behind a dryline swinging northeast across the region. (see event story links at top of page for much more detail on these 2 severe thunderstorm events)

As for non-thunderstorm related strong winds from passing low pressure systems, there were no significant events during the month. However, as is common during the spring, a few days featured strong winds that locally gusted to 50+ MPH, including the 13th and 28th. Among the official NWS observation sites at South Central Nebraska airports, a few peak April wind gusts featured 54 MPH at Grand Island (on the 10th) and 52 MPH at Hastings (on the 13th). 

- Number of Severe Thunderstorm Warning polygons issued by NWS Hastings in April 2014: 19 (17 less than April 2013)
- Number of Tornado Warning polygons issued by NWS Hastings in April 2014: 3 (same as April 2013)
- Number of confirmed tornadoes within the NWS Hastings coverage area in April 2014: 3...all rated EF-0  (3 more than April 2013)
 

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Click on the link below for April 2014 climate summaries specifically for Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney and Ord 

Grand Island - Hastings - Kearney - Ord

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Various graphs and tables depicting April 2014 climate data for
South Central Nebraska and North Central Kansas:

* Please Note: These data are preliminary and have not undergone final quality control by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Therefore, these data are subject to revision. Final and certified climate data can be accessed at WWW.NCDC.NOAA.GOV

Click Each Graph To Go To Monthly Temp/Precip Summary Pages

Grand Island Temperature Summary: Observed daily maximum and minimum temperatures are connected by blue bars. Area between normal maximum and minimum temperatures is shaded green. Red bars connect record high temperatures. Blue bars connect record low temperatures.	Hastings Temperature Summary: Observed daily maximum and minimum temperatures are connected by blue bars. Area between normal maximum and minimum temperatures is shaded green. Red bars connect record high temperatures. Blue bars connect record low temperatures.

Click Images To Enlarge

Grand Island Precipitation Summary: Green line indicates cumulative observed precipitation for April 2014. Brown line indicates "normal" March precipitation based on 30-year data from 1981-2010.	Hastings Precipitation Summary: Green line indicates cumulative observed precipitation for April 2014. Brown line indicates "normal" March precipitation based on 30-year data from 1981-2010.

 Most of the following images depicting April 2014 Precipitation and Temperatures are courtesy of the High Plains Regional Climate Center:

* Please note: These maps are a "best-approximation" of actual measured values, and data reflected on these maps may not exactly match actual values due to the effects of interpolation and "smoothing" used to create the maps. In addition, some "bullseyes" may be a result of missing data.

Click Images To Enlarge

Nebraska: April 2014 Measured Precipitation (Inches)	Kansas: April 2014 Measured Precipitation (Inches)
Nebraska: Apri 2014 Percent of Normal Measured Precip.	Kansas: April 2014 Percent of Normal Measured Precip.
NWS Hastings Area: April 2014 Total "Observed" Precipitation Based On AHPS Precipitation Analysis Including Radar Data
	While the precipitation images above are based strictly on gauge-measured data, this image on the left utilizes an "Observed" multisensor approach created by River Forecast Centers. Hourly precipitation estimates from WSR-88D NEXRAD radar are compared to ground rainfall gauge reports, and a bias (correction factor) is calculated and applied to the radar field. For much more information on these types of images, and to create your own precipitation maps, please visit the following site: https://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge2/ RFC_Precip/index.php?site=gid
Nebraska: April 2014  Temperature Departure  from Normal (F)	Kansas: April 2014 Temperature Departure  from Normal (F)

The following drought category images, current as of April 29, 2014, are courtesy of the U.S. Drought Monitor (see narrative above for more details):

Click Images To Enlarge 

Nebraska - U.S. Drought Monitor as of April 29, 2014	Kansas - U.S. Drought Monitor as of April 29, 2014

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For more climate related information, check out the following websites: