July 2018: Weather/Climate Review For South Central NE/North Central KS

Recap of July 2018 Weather for the 30-county NWS Hastings Coverage Area:

July 2018 Precipitation

- Rainfall: For the majority of the area, July featured no true wet or dry extremes, as most places received at least 2-3", and few places measured more than 6". That being said...roughly speaking...around 60% of the area saw at least slightly above normal rainfall, and around 40% checked in at least slightly below normal. A few of the overall-wettest counties were mainly in the far north and west, such as: Valley/Greeley/Furnas/Phillips/Rooks. Some of the overall-driest counties were mainly in the southeast, including: Nuckolls/Webster/Adams/Jewell. Per dozens of NWS/CoCoRaHS observers, a few of the highest official July totals featured: 11.02" near Damar KS, 8.23" six miles southeast of Bertrand, and 8.12" at both Loomis and near York. On the drier (but not extremely dry) side of things, a few of the lowest monthly amounts included: 2.19" at Hastings airport, 2.27" in Superior, 2.48" at Geneva, and 2.56" near Blue Hill. ** PLEASE NOTE: Because most official observers report on a 24-hour basis from 7AM-7AM, many July totals actually include rain (some heavy) that technically fell June 30th ** 

As for short-term/24-hour-or-less rain totals, a few of the highest official amounts featured: 5.32" near Damar KS (reported July 1st but mostly fell June 30th) and 4.30" between Sumner and Miller on the 5th. Unofficially, there was also a report of around 6" several miles north of Overton on the 5th. 

- Flooding: Although no major/widespread flooding occurred, a few pockets of 3-4+" rain in a short time prompted mainly minor/short-term flooding issues. Officially, only one Flash Flood Warning was issued during July: for portions of east-central Dawson County during the early morning hours of the 5th. Although there were no official rain totals from the area, there was an unofficial report of at least 6" in a small area north of Overton, along with flood damage to a rural home. As for fairly minor flooding along larger streams and rivers detected by automated gauges, there were three July instances:
1) Very heavy rain that fell mainly June 30th in western Rooks County KS (and especially slightly upstream over Graham County...just outside the NWS Hastings area) caused flooding along the South Fork Solomon River near Damar (upstream of Webster Reservoir) on July 1st, with the river cresting at 11.9 ft. (flood stage 8.5 ft). This was the second time in 5 weeks that gauge near Damar flooded!
2) The aforementioned heavy rain over primarily eastern Dawson/far western Buffalo counties on the early morning of the 5th prompted minor flooding along the Elm Creek, with the gauge near the town of Elm Creek cresting at 9.9 ft (flood stage 9.5 ft) on the morning of the 6th. 
3) On the morning of the 30th, the Bow Creek gauge along Highway 183 north of Stockton KS barely touched minor flood stage of 9 feet. 

- Temperatures: Following one of the warmest (combined) months of May-June on record, readings took a modest step backward in July, as most official stations averaged 1-2º below normal for the month. There were really no "major" temperature swings during the month, although the first half averaged warmer than the second half. For sure, the coolest stretch of the month was centered between the 27th-30th, during which many local Nebraska counties only saw highs in the upper 70s on most of these four days, while southern portions of the area (including KS) climbed no higher than mid-80s. As for monthly extremes per official NWS observers/stations, some of the hottest readings (all occurred on the 12th) featured: 102º at Red Cloud, 101º at Kirwin Dam KS and 100º at a few sites including Hebron and Smith Center KS. On the cooler side of things, the lowest overnight lows occurred on the 31st, including: 49º at Ord airport and Greeley, and 51º at several locations including: Beaver City, Gothenburg, Edison and Holdrege. 

- Severe Thunderstorms/Tornadoes (for all finalized/official severe storm reports refer to NCEI Storm Events Database):
- # of confirmed tornadoes during July 2018: ZERO. However, there were a few funnel cloud reports, including one on the 25th northwest of Genoa near the Nance/Boone County line, and one near Shelton on the 30th. 
- Largest known hail stone reported to NWS Hastings: 2.75" diameter (baseball size)...in Hazard on the evening of the 18th.
- Strongest known measured thunderstorm wind gust: 88 MPH at Grand Island airport on the evening of the 28th...based on damage reports/other nearby observations, winds of/near this intensity mainly affected northern/eastern parts of the city. 
- Notable thunderstorm damage reported to NWS Hastings: 1) Just after midnight on the 1st: a large tree fell on a home in Milligan...2) Evening of the 28th: several reports of mainly tree damage in northern/eastern Grand Island. 
- # of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued by NWS Hastings: 44 (this was 10 more than last July) 
- # of Tornado Warnings issued by NWS Hastings: 1 (issued on the evening of the 18th for a supercell storm with strong radar-indicated rotation north of Kearney). This was 1 more Tornado Warning than last July, when none were issued. 
- The most active severe weather days (generally with the most storms and/or most reports): 18th, 19th

2018 Nebraska Cooperative Observer Precipitation Tables (around 45 sites)
2018 Kansas Cooperative Observer Precipitation Tables (around 17 sites)

2017 Nebraska Cooperative Observer Precipitation Tables (around 45 sites)
2017 Kansas Cooperative Observer Precipitation Tables (around 17 sites)

Archived Precipitation Tables And Monthly Climate Stories