Flooding, Fires, Very Dry to Very Wet, and Severe Storms. Check out the 2015 Top 5 Weather Events for Western and North Central Nebraska

2015 TOP 5 WEATHER EVENTS FOR
WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA

The following are the top 5 weather events (listed chronologically) across Western and North Central Nebraska for 2015, as determined by the staff at the National Weather Service Office in North Platte.

Range Fires of March 29th

Historically dry and unseasonably warm temperatures during the month of March, led to extreme to critical fire danger. On the 29th, a cold front approached western and north central Nebraska, leading to the development of high based thunderstorms with dry lightning. Lightning strikes started a fire 13 miles east of Arthur during the evening of March 29th. Fanned by strong northerly winds, the fire quickly spread south along the Arthur and McPherson county line into eastern portions of Keith County. The fire burned through the night before being extinguished the following morning. A total of 30,000 acres of rangeland burned in the fire.

Satellite image showing smoke plume

March 2015
Driest on record for North Platte
2nd Driest on record for Valentine

March 2015 will go down as the driest March on record for North Platte and second driest on record for Valentine. Precipitation for the month totaled 0.01 inches at Lee Bird Field in North Platte. This broke the previous record of 0.04 inches set in 1882. For Valentine, 0.03 inches of precipitation fell during the month of March, making it the second driest March on record. In addition to dry conditions, much above normal temperatures occurred during March across western and north central Nebraska. On March 16th, the high in North Platte was 91 degrees. This shattered the daily record high of 82 degrees set in 2012. In addition to breaking the daily record, March 16, 2015 was the warmest temperature ever recorded in March for North Platte. The previous record was 88 degrees set on March 31, 1946. It was also the first ever occurrence of 90+ degrees in the month of March.

Top 10 Driest Marches on Record

North Platte
Rank	Year	Amount
1	2015	0.01"
2	1882	0.04"
3	1994	0.05"
4	1997	0.07"
5	1895	0.09"
5	1967	0.09"
7	1907	0.10"
8	1879	0.11"
8	1968	0.11"
10	1903	0.12"

Valentine
Rank	Year	Amount
1	1997	0.01"
2	2015	0.03"
3	1956	0.14"
4	1916	0.16"
5	1978	0.19"
6	1965	0.20"
7	1968	0.22"
8	1925	0.26"
	1955	0.26"
	1994	0.26"

South Platte, North Platte, & Platte Rivers Prolonged Flooding

Above normal precipitation in the Rocky Mountains during late winter and early spring of 2015 resulted in well above normal snow pack in the headwaters of the North Platte River and the South Platte River. Above normal precipitation continued for the late spring and early summer months across the entire region. In addition to the above normal mountain snow was cool spring temperatures, which delayed the snow melt. The combination of the delayed snow melt and above normal rainfall resulted in portions of the South Platte River, North Platte River upstream of Lake McConaughy, and the Platte River seeing prolonged flooding starting in May, cresting in June, and for some isolated areas lingering into early July. Fortunately, Lake McConaughy was able to absorb the high flows preventing flooding downstream on the North Platte River and adding to the flooding on the Platte River.

Image of Flooding of the South Platte River near North Platte June 2015
photo credit NWS

Severe Storms Strike Along the Highway 83 Corridor on August 13th

Thunderstorms developed in the central sandhills during the late afternoon hours on August 13th. Storms quickly became severe as they tracked along highway 83 from Thedford to south of North Platte during the evening hours. Tennis ball sized hail and 60 mile per hour wind gusts were reported across Thomas, Logan and northern Lincoln County. As the storms approached North Platte, they intensified producing 60 to 70 mile per hour winds, golf ball sized hail and up to an inch of rain which fell in 20 minutes. The 60 to 70 MPH winds led to severe tree damage across central and western portions of North Platte. Numerous power outages were reported, and across portions of southwest North Platte, power outages extended well into the following day. Severe storms continued south before weakening in Frontier County.

Tree Damage in North Platte
photo credit Audra West

Unusual Water Year for Valentine (8th wettest)

Valentine saw a roller coaster of monthly precipitation totals, ranging from the 2nd driest to the 2nd and 3rd wettest. In the end the Valentine 2015 precipitation total will rank in the top 10 wettest. The start of the year saw both January and February in the middle of the pack for rainfall totals. Then a very dry March was experienced, only 0.03” of rain was recorded, 2nd driest. April saw a return to the middle of the pack, then a very active May resulted in an astonishing 7.12” of precipitation, 3rd wettest May on record. The summer was generally in the middle of the pack, then September arrived with 4.80” of precipitation. This was good for the 2nd wettest September on record. October was slightly wet then the 8th wettest November occurred with 1.74” of precipitation. Finally, December has been on the wet side (10th wettest) with 1.04” of precipitation recorded. Overall the total precipitation for Valentine totaled 27.06 inches which ranks as the 8th wettest on record for a calendar year.

Valentine, NE
Wettest Years on Record

Valentine, NE
2015 Month Totals and Ranking

Rank	Year	Amount
1	1977	32.68"
2	1929	28.91"
3	1915	28.52"
4	1983	28.50"
5	1905	28.25"
6	1892	27.92"
7	1891	27.79"
8	2015	27.07"
9	1906	26.54"
10	2005	25.35"

Month	Amount	Month Ranking
January	0.31"	59th Driest
February	0.31"	47th Driest
March	0.03"	2nd Driest
April	1.62"	55th Driest
May	7.12"	3rd Wettest
June	3.42"	54th Wettest
July	3.25"	42nd Wettest
August	1.89"	53rd Wettest
September	4.80"	2nd Wettest
October	1.54"	40th Wettest
November	1.74"	8th Wettest
December	1.04"	10th Wettest

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by Matt Masek, Chris Buttler,