PRELIMINARY 2024 Precip Recap for Our Entire Coverage Area...Including Maps, Tables, Tri Cities Details

2024 APPROXIMATE Total Precipitation THROUGH DEC. 22nd (click to enlarge)

2024 Precip Percent-of-Normal THROUGH DEC 22nd (click to enlarge)

- BRIEF OVERVIEW OF 2024 PRECIPITATION (through Dec. 23):
Fortunately, 2024 continued a trend from 2023 by being NOT AS DRY AS THE PREVIOUS YEAR across most of our our 30-county coverage area. That being said, roughly 60% of our area still registered at least slightly below normal precipitation, while only around 40% of it was at least slightly above normal. The majority of our area tallied somewhere between 22-32", or generally 80-120% of the 30-year normal. In other words, most places were neither "extremely dry" nor "extremely wet" for the year as whole, with most stations registering within +/- 5" either side of normal. Very generally (there were localized exceptions), the northwest half of our coverage area (places mainly northwest of a line from Osceola-Grand Island-Phillipsburg KS) was overall-wettest, while the southeast half of our area was overall-driest (particularly in the Hebron/Superior/Beloit vicinity).

Per dozens of NWS Cooperative Observer stations and a few official airport sites:
- a few of the wettest 2024 stations in our coverage area (through Dec. 23) include:
3NE Shelby (37.22"), Osceola (34.47"), St. Paul (34.00") and Ravenna (30.78")
- a few of the driest 2024 stations in our area (through Dec 23) include:
4WNW Plainville KS (21.23"), Ord airport (21.43"), Beloit KS (22.30") and Superior (22.59")

Highlighting just a few 2024 precipitation "fun facts" within our area:
- 1: Through Dec. 23rd, Grand Island airport (CNRA) has totaled 28.22" for the year. Although this is only slightly above normal, it is nonetheless an incredible 11.70" MORE than what fell during all of 2023!  
- 2: Much of our area (not all of it) endured an incredibly-dry September-October, with many spots totaling 1" or less (combined for both months!). It was a Top-8-Driest September+October on record in the Nebraska Tri Cities, and it was THE DRIEST SEP+OCT ON RECORD at long-time NWS Cooperative Observer stations such as 2W Arcadia (0.16"), Greeley (0.27") and St. Paul (0.49"). 

- 2024 DROUGHT RECAP (through Dec. 23):
Per weekly issuances of the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), 2024 was a "roller coaster" ride as the year started out pretty bleak (especially south and east), improved considerably throughout the spring-early summer, and then worsened again in the fall (especially Sept.- Oct.) before improving/stabilizing somewhat in November. More specifically, 2024 opened with nearly two-thirds of our 30-county coverage area assigned between Moderate Drought (D1) and Extreme Drought (D3)...with most of the D3 focused east of Highway 281 in Nebraska and also in Rooks County KS. Thanks to decent precipitation through the first several months of the year, steady improvement took place during the spring-early summer, with D3 disappearing from our entire area in Jan-Feb, Severe Drought (D2) going away in early-May, and D1 vanishing from the vast majority of our area late-May/June. During the latter half of the year, more frequent stretches of dryness (particularly Sept-Oct) brought a widespread degradation, with 92% of our area assigned either D1 or D2 by early-November. Fortunately, widespread above normal November rainf stemmed the dry tide somewhat, removing most of the D2. However, as of Dec. 23, the majority of our area (82% of it) remains in D1 Moderate Drought. 

HANDY TIPS:
- You can look up official daily/monthly/annual temp/precip data for ALL NWS cooperative observer and airport stations in our area with NOWData
- You can find maps of daily/weekly/monthly etc. precipitation on a page maintained by NWS Hastings at: www.weather.gov/gid/Precipitation
- You can do your own daily/monthly/annual precipitation analysis (including generating maps) using the NWS NWPS page