Heat Continues for the East and South-Central U.S.; Strong to Severe Storms Across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

The extremely dangerous heat wave continues across the East Coast and much of the South-Central U.S. today. Record high temperatures are expected for some areas especially across the Mid-Atlantic where extreme heat risk conditions reside. There is a Slight Risk (level 2 of 5) of severe thunderstorms today for the northern Mid-Atlantic into portions of southern New England. Read More >

NORTH PLATTE
THANKSGIVING DAY CLIMATOLOGY

Thanksgiving Day is observed nationally on the fourth Thursday in November. Some speculate the holiday dates back to the day of thanks ordered by Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony in New England in 1621. Currently there are seven days in which Thanksgiving Day is celebrated, ranging from November 22nd to November 28th, however this was not always the case. Before 1941, Thanksgiving Day was celebrated on the day proclaimed by the president in a Presidential Proclamation, typically the last Thursday of November. This changed the seven days Thanksgiving Day was celebrated to November 24th to November 30th. In 1939 and 1940, there were exceptions to the "typical" date of Thanksgiving. Retailers lobbied for more days of shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and won. Thanksgiving Day was celebrated on the 23rd in 1939 and on the 21st in 1940. Following the 1940 debate on which day Thanksgiving would be celebrated, Congress stepped in and designated the current fourth Thursday of November to be the day to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. This study uses the observed day that Thanksgiving Day was celebrated.

THANKSGIVING DAY IN NORTH PLATTE
PERIOD OF RECORD 143 YEARS: 1874-2016

TEMPERATURE DATA

Highest	70 degrees (November 24, 2011)
Lowest	-10 degrees (November 29, 1877)
Lowest Maximum	5 degrees (November 27, 1919)
Highest Minimum	41 degrees (November 24, 1949)
Average High	44.8 degrees
Average Low	18.5 degrees
30 Year Normal High	47 to 44 degrees
30 Year Normal Low	18 to 16 degrees
Average Temperature Range	26.3 degrees
Largest Range between High and Low	50 degrees High 70, Low 20 (November 24, 2011)
Smallest Range between High and Low	2 degrees High 32, Low 30 (November 26, 1987)

High Temperature by 10 Degree Ranges

0s	10s	20s	30s	40s	50s	60s	70s
1	9	9	25	38	40	20	1
0.7%	6.3%	6.3%	17.5%	26.6%	28.0%	14.0%	0.7%

Low Temperature by 10 Degree Ranges

-10s	-0s	0s	10s	20s	30s	40s
1	5	17	41	67	11	1
0.7%	3.5%	11.9%	28.7%	46.9%	7.7%	0.7%

PRECIPITATION DATA

Maximum Precipitation	0.61 inches (November 29, 1928)
Maximum Snowfall	6.4 inches (November 29, 1928)
Number of Times Precipitation	44 Occurrences or 30.8%
Number of Times Measurable Precipitation (more than a Trace)	21 Occurrences or 14.7%
Number of Times Snowfall	29 Occurrences or 20.3%
Number of Times Measurable Snowfall (more than a Trace)	12 Occurrences or 8.4%
Number of Times No Precipitation	98 Occurrences or 69.2%

SNOW DEPTH INFORMATION IN NORTH PLATTE
PERIOD OF RECORD 135 YEARS: 1882-2016
(snow depth rounded to nearest whole inch or trace if 0.4 inches or less)

Number of Years - 1 inch or more snow on ground (135 years)	16 Years (11.9%)
Number of Years - 1 inch or more snow on ground (last 25 years)	3 Years (12.0%)
Number of Years - 1 inch or more snow on ground (last 10 years)	0 Year (0.0%)
Number of Years with trace or more snow on Ground (135 years)	32 Years (23.7%)
Number of Years with trace or more snow on Ground (last 25 years)	6 Years (23.9%)
Number of Years with trace or more snow on Ground (last 10 years)	1 Years (10.0%) 2007 - Trace
Consecutive Years 1 inch or more snow on ground	2 Years (1930 - 1931)
Consecutive Years without 1 inch or more snow on ground	23 Years (1882-1904)
Current Streak Consecutive Years without 1 inch or more snow on ground	16 Years

1 Inch or More Snow Depth Occurrences by Decade
* incomplete decade

1880s	1890s	1900s	1910s	1920s	1930s	1940s
0*	0	1	1	1	2	0
1950s	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s	2010s
3	0	3	1	3	1	0*

DAILY WEATHER SUMMARIES PAST 5 THANKSGIVING DAYS

Date	High	Low	Precip	Snow	Snow Depth	Remarks
Nov 22, 2012	53	23	0.00	0.0	0	Sunny, windy (peak gust 40 mph)
Nov 28, 2013	34	18	0.00	0.0	0	Morning clouds, otherwise mostly sunny
Nov 27, 2014	50	17	0.00	0.0	0	Early morning clouds, otherwise mostly sunny
Nov 26, 2015	31	18	T	T	0	Cloudy, morning freezing drizzle, afternoon flurries
Nov 24, 2016	50	22	0.00	0.0	0	Morning fog, otherwise mostly sunny and windy (peak gust 35 mph)

YEAR BY YEAR WEATHER FOR PAST THANKSGIVING DAYS
CLICK ON GRAPH FOR LARGER IMAGE

NORTH PLATTE RECORDS FOR POTENTIAL THANKSGIVING DAYS
(RECORDS SET ON CELEBRATED THANKSGIVING DAYS HIGHLIGHTED)

Date	High	Low	Low Max	High Min	Precip	Snow
Nov 22	77/1903	-6/1898	16/1931,1895	45/1885	0.22/1952	3.2/1952
Nov 23	72/1988	-6/1950	16/1950	44/1899	0.74/2001	1.0/1950
Nov 24	72/1915	-7/1950	12/1993,1880	41/1949	0.32/1987	4.0/1895
Nov 25	74/1995,60	-7/1880	13/1975	35/1984	0.62/1944	4.0/1944
Nov 26	73/1960	-12/1887	11/1975,1919	39/1909,1894	0.64/1919	7.2/1919
Nov 27	73/1998	-25/1887	5/1919	41/1962	0.88/1983	8.3/1983
Nov 28	68/1941	-13/1976,1896	10/1975,1919,1896	35/1962,1913,1904,1886	0.42/2004	9.9/2004

ALSO VISIT VALENTINE THANKSGIVING DAY CLIMATOLOGY

For more holiday climate studies see the main menu
Holiday Climate Studies for North Platte and Valentine

Page composition by
Matthew Masek
Update includes 2016

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Heat Continues for the East and South-Central U.S.; Strong to Severe Storms Across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

Thanksgiving Day Climatology - North Platte, NE