May 2014: Weather/Climate Review and Extremes

(Click on the links in gray boxes below to quickly jump to information located farther down the page)

* 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. 

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

...Well-Below Normal Rainfall For the Vast Majority of The Area (Except Mainly York County)...As Temperatures Averaged Near-Normal...

The following narrative focuses on climate and weather highlights for the month of May 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" May high temperatures in South Central Nebraska gradually climb from the upper-60s early in the month to the upper-70s by month's end. In North Central Kansas, highs gradually warm from the low-70s to near 80. Low temperatures across the area generally climb from the low or mid-40s early in the month to the mid-50s by month's end...)

Based on the monthly average temperature (resulting from averaging together the daily highs and lows), temperatures for the month of May 2014 as a whole were not all that "newsworthy", as the vast majority of the NWS Hastings coverage area ended up within 1.5° either side of the 30-year normal. Following below are several temperature highlights/details for the month of May 2014:

Across the 30-county area as a whole, May featured distinct stretches of below normal (mid-month) and above normal (late-month) temperatures. At Hastings airport, where temperature trends were generally representative of much of the 30-county area as a whole, 19 of 31 May days featured an above normal average temperature, 10 were below normal and 2 days matched their daily normal. 

The month ended on a notably-warm note across the area. At Hastings, each of the final 13 days were above normal, including six consecutive days from the 26th-31st that saw highs range from 85-91°. At both Grand Island and Hastings, the final 6-8 days of the month averaged out to yield the 2nd-warmest finish to May on record. 

Per dozens of NWS cooperative observers and a few automated airport sites, the hottest days of the month for most locations occurred on either the 19th or 28th, including the first 100° reading of 2014 within the local area recorded on the 19th four miles west-northwest of Plainville KS. A few of the other warmest highs of the month featured 98° at Smith Center KS and two miles southwest of Alton KS (both on the 19th) and 97° at Webster Dam KS (on the 19th) and Kirwin Dam KS (on the 28th). On the Nebraska side of the border, the hottest May high was 96° at Franklin on the 19th. 

For the majority of the area, the coolest week of the month was centered between the 11th-18th, during which high temperatures only exceeded 66° once at Hastings airport. More notably at places such as Grand Island and Hastings, five consecutive mornings from the 13th-17th featured low temperatures in the 30s. At Grand Island, this was the first time in 119 years of records that 5-consecutive days dropped below 40° starting on/after the date of May 13th. Furthermore, both Grand Island and Hastings dropped down to 32° on the morning of the 17th, marking the latest spring freeze in Grand Island in 51 years, and the latest in Hastings in 67 years! 

Per dozens of NWS cooperative observers and a few automated airport sites, the coldest low temperatures of the month for most locations occurred on either the 2nd, 15th, 16th or 17th, highlighted by sub-freezing readings of 25° at Ord airport (on the 15th), 26° at Greeley (on the 15th), and 27° on the 2nd at both Edison and two miles southwest of Alton KS.

For essentially the entire 30-county area, the chilliest high temperature of May 2014 occurred on the 12th behind a strong cold front, as most places only topped out between 46-54°

Among the official Nebraska Tri-Cities airport temperature stations, the warmest May high temperatures at each site featured 93° at Kearney on the 28th, 92° at Grand Island on the 28th and 91° at Hastings on both the 19th and 28th. The coldest Tri-Cities low temperatures at each site featured 30° at Kearney on the 15th and 17th, 32° at Grand Island on the 15th and 17th and 32° at Hastings on the 17th. 

The most extreme day-to-day change in May high temperatures at Grand Island airport was 18°, consisting of a decent warm-up from 59° to 77° on the 1st-2nd. 

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



- PRECIPITATION/SNOWFALL/FLOODING...(According to 30-year averages, "normal" May rainfall is primarily between 3.75 and 4.25 inches across roughly the western half of the NWS Hastings coverage area (generally west of Highway 281) and generally between 4.25 and 4.75 inches for locations east of Highway 281. For the 30-county area as a whole...normal May rainfall roughly averages 4.20"...)

In the wake of a fairly decent April precipitation for much (but of course not all) of the NWS Hastings coverage area, May signaled another downturn as the vast majority of the area fell well-short of normal/average precipitation. The one major exception was across much of York County and surrounding portions of northeastern Clay and southeastern Hamilton counties, which received near-to-above-normal rainfall due in large part to a large supercell storm that dumped very heavy rain on the afternoon of the 11th (Mother's Day). Following below are several precipitation highlights/details for the month of May 2014:

Based on reports from around 65 NWS Cooperative Observers and a few automated airport gauges, and also incorporating radar-derived estimation, roughly 95% of the 30-county area observed below normal May precipitation, and more significantly, somewhere between 20-30% of the area measured LESS THAN ONE-FOURTH of normal May rainfall (meaning generally less than 1.05"). As mentioned above, the only notable, limited exception of above normal rainfall was primarily centered over the York County area.  

For much of the area, this was at least the 6th month out of the last 7 to feature at least slightly below normal precipitation, and for northern locations such as Ord it was the 8th-consecutive month of below normal precipitation. As just one prime example of this prolonged dryness, the nearly 7-month stretch from Nov. 6, 2013-May 31, 2014 featured only 4.67" of precipitation at Grand Island airport, tying for the 4th-driest on record between those particular dates out of 119 years of records. 

During May, the majority (roughly two-thirds) of the 30-county area tallied much-below to below normal rainfall somewhere between 0.75-2.50". As for monthly precipitation extremes, a few of the highest May totals featured 8.51" one mile east-southeast of York (NeRAIN observer), 7.41" three miles east of Waco (NeRAIN observer), 6.47" three miles north of York (NWS coop observer), and 5.80" at Bradshaw (NWS observer). The majority of this rain fell between the morning of the 11th and the morning of the 12th. For example, the observer located 3 miles north of York measured 4.48" during this brief time, accounting for 69% of the monthly total. 

On the opposite, drier side of the spectrum, a few of the lowest May precipitation totals within the area per NWS Cooperative observers featured only 0.49" at Hubbell, 0.51" at Ord airport, 0.60" four miles west-northwest of Plainville KS and 0.62" at Greeley. 

Among the official Nebraska Tri-Cities airport precipitation sites, Hastings led the way with 2.15”, followed by Grand Island (0.74”) and Kearney (0.71”). At Grand Island, this was the 5th-driest May on record out of 119 years and was the driest since 1994 only had 0.46".

No snow was reported within the 30-county area during May, which is typical of the vast majority of years. 

Flooding: Although longer-term, significant flooding was not an issue during the month, the large supercell storm that dumped several inches of rain primarily on the York County area on the afternoon of the 11th resulted in short-term flooding of creeks and streams, along with closures of some mainly rural county roads. Later in the month on the 25th, a very localized area of heavy rain that primarily fell just outside the NWS Hastings coverage area in far northern Norton County KS caused minor flooding along the Sappa Creek into southern Furnas County Nebraska. 

(Please look farther down the page for more information on May 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 vast majority of the NWS Hastings coverage area measured below normal precipitation during May 2014, there was actually relatively little change in drought classification during the month according to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor. There was one noticeable change for the better, however, as the limited eastern portions of South Central Nebraska that observed near-to-above normal May rainfall (primarily from the severe Mother's Day storm on the 11th) improved one to two drought categories, now designated as being void of all drought issues. 
 
Getting into more specifics, and starting with the 24-county Nebraska portion of the area: At least a slight majority of the area remained in category D1 Moderate Drought over the course of the month. On the worse-off side of things, D2 Severe Drought remained firmly in place throughout May in several western counties, including large portions of Furnas, Gosper, Dawson and Valley counties, and also expanded somewhat to now include decent chunks of Sherman and Greeley counties. On a positive note, and as mentioned above, the majority of Hamilton, York, and Polk counties improved enough during May to be deemed void of drought issues. Surrounding the fringes of this limited "drought-free" area and also extending farther southwest to include large portions of Adams and Kearney counties (and small portions of other counties) was a corridor of category D0 Abnormally Dry conditions (considered to be one category better than “true” drought). Farther south within the six North Central Kansas counties, there was essentially no change whatsoever during the course of the month. As a result: the majority of the area remained in D2 Severe Drought, the far southern fringes of Rooks and Osborne counties remained in D3 Extreme Drought, and most of Phillips along with northern portions of Smith and Jewell counties remained somewhat better-off with 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 improvement in the cumulative areal coverage of D1 Moderate-or-worse drought during May, while the coverage of Moderate-or-worse drought in Kansas remained unchanged: As of May 27th, 62% of Nebraska and 99% of Kansas was assigned D1 Moderate-or-worse Drought (compared to 70% and 99%, respectively, back on April 29th).


- SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS/HIGH WINDS...Compared to many years (including last year in 2013), May 2014 as a whole was fairly quiet in the severe weather department, with one glaring exception. That exception was the 11th, Mother's Day: On that day, the early morning hours started out with sporadic reports of large hail, and then later in the afternoon a significant supercell storm dropped several tornadoes along a path through Clay-northern Fillmore-southern York counties (additional tornadoes occurred farther east into the NWS Omaha/Valley coverage area). Eight tornadoes were verified that day in the NWS Hastings domain, including two that were rated as strong as EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Although there was at least one minor injury, no lives were lost in these tornadoes. Besides Mother's Day, the most significant severe weather of the month occurred on the evening of the 7th as a supercell storm produced wind damage and hail up to baseball size as it tracked along a path from Dawson County, northeastward into the Sherman and Howard County area. (PLEASE refer to 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 with gusts of 58+ MPH. Among the automated airports sensors in South Central Nebraska, a few peak April gusts featured 49 MPH at Ord, 46 MPH at Hastings and 44 MPH at Grand Island (all occurred on the 12th). 

- Number of Severe Thunderstorm Warning polygons issued by NWS Hastings in May 2014: 29 (72 fewer than May 2013)
- Number of Tornado Warning polygons issued by NWS Hastings in May 2014: 8 (19 fewer than May 2013) 
- Number of confirmed tornadoes within the NWS Hastings coverage area in May 2014: 8   (3 EF-0, 2 EF-1, 1 EF-2 & 2 EF-3)  (5 fewer total than May 2013)

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Click on the link below for May 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 May 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 May 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 May 2014. Brown line indicates "normal" March precipitation based on 30-year data from 1981-2010.

 Most of the following images depicting May 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: May 2014 Measured Precipitation (Inches)	Kansas: May 2014 Measured Precipitation (Inches)
Nebraska: May 2014 Percent of Normal Measured Precip.	Kansas: May 2014 Percent of Normal Measured Precip.
NWS Hastings Area: May 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: May 2014  Temperature Departure  from Normal (F)	Kansas: May 2014 Temperature Departure  from Normal (F)

The following drought category images, current as of May 27, 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 May 27, 2014	Kansas - U.S. Drought Monitor as of May 27, 2014

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