Drought in Nebraska, April 1 to 30, 2013

Name: Drought in Nebraska, April 1 to 30, 2013
Start: 2013-04-01T00:00
End: 2013-04-30T23:59
Location: Nebraska

April 1 to 30, 2013 · NWS GID · 24 events in 24 counties and zones

S. Drought Monitor, April marked the tenth consecutive month of severe (or worse) drought across South Central Nebraska.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 24 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 24

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS GID wrote it up.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, April marked the tenth consecutive month of severe (or worse) drought across South Central Nebraska. This continued one of the most notable droughts since the 1950s, although much of the area saw some encouraging trends during the month. Based on Drought Monitor weekly issuances, for the first time in several months there was a widespread - albeit slight - improvement in drought classification. More specifically, most locations generally west of a line from Franklin-Aurora-Silver Creek improved from D4 Exceptional Drought (the worst-possible category) to D3 Extreme Drought, while most places east of this line improved from Extreme to D2 Severe Drought. In fact, only southwestern Furnas County remained in Exceptional drought at month's end. Based on reports from around 50 NWS cooperative observers, and also incorporating radar-derived estimation, roughly 70 percent of the area tallied above normal April precipitation (based on normals generally between 2-3 inches). Even for the roughly 30% of the area that measured below normal precipitation, most of these places checked in only slightly below normal and tallied at least 1.50 for the month. In other words, no areas were left bone-dry through the entire month, as had been the case several times during the past year. Thanks largely to multiple rounds of thunderstorms that trained over the same corridor on the night of the 8th, the highest monthly precipitation totals of 3-5 inches (and locally higher) concentrated within a southwest-to-northeast axis running roughly 15 miles either side of a line from Holdrege-Ravenna-Fullerton. Within this zone, some of the highest-known April totals included 6.01 seven miles north-northeast of Central City, 5.07 two miles west of Genoa, 4.96 at Fullerton and 4.75 at St. Paul. At Fullerton, it was the 11th-wettest April on record dating back to 1901. On the comparably drier side of things, those areas that received less than 2.25 of precipitation during the month were largely concentrated within parts of Adams, Webster, Franklin, Nuckolls and Furnas counties. A few of the lowest monthly totals were reported at Red Cloud and two miles northeast of Upland (1.57), Franklin (1.91) and Beaver City (1.98). As for April snowfall, a predominant below normal temperature regime set the stage for generally above normal amounts, with a few spots such as Ord and Belgrade accumulating as much as 7 inches.

Despite the positive news for much of South Central Nebraska during April, there was still a long way to go to fully relieve the area of severe or worse drought given that longer-term impacts to subsoil moisture and groundwater deficits remained. The trend was on the right track, however, as most of the 24-county area observed between 75 and 115 percent of normal precipitation during the first four months of 2013. According to the USDA Nebraska Crop Progress and Condition Report for the week ending May 5th, state-averaged topsoil moisture had decreased to 36% short to very short, a notable 44% improvement since late March. However, subsoil moisture supplies still rated 84% short to very short, only a 12% improvement over the same time span. The state-averaged wheat crop rated 49% poor to very poor, and hay and forage supplies rated 70% short to very short, 11% worse versus late March. Pasture and range conditions across Nebraska averaged 70% poor to very poor, however, stock water supplies were only 21% short to very short, a 15% improvement since late March.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 31, 11:26 PM CST, 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 11:26 PM CST, 34 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1226 AM CDT MON APR 1 2013

.SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH MONDAY)
ISSUED AT 421 PM CDT SUN MAR 31 2013

SPLIT FLOW CONTS OVER THE CONUS WITH THE CNTRL PLAINS IN THE NW FLOW
BRANCH. THERE IS A COLD AIR MASS OVER THE CANADIAN PRAIRIES HEADING
S. THE PAS 12Z SOUNDING /NW OF LAKE WINNIPEG/ HAD AN H8 TEMP OF -16C.
TEMPS ARE IN THE 30S OVER MUCH OF SD AND IN THE 20S OVER ND AT 20Z.
THIS AIR MASS WILL INVADE TNGT WITH A BURST OF WINDY CONDITIONS.
STRONG HIGH PRES SLIDES INTO THE NRN PLAINS TNGT-MON.

REST OF THIS AFTN: SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY...INCREASING CLOUDS...
ESPECIALLY N AND E OF THE TRI-CITIES. CLOUDS HAVE RAPIDLY DEVELOPED
OVER N-CNTRL NEB IN THE PAST COUPLE HRS AND SHWRS ARE INCREASING ON
LNX 88D.

SFC RH IS 25-30 PERCENT. SO AT WORST COULD SEE A FEW SPRINKLES N OF
HWY 6 BEFORE 7 PM.

TNGT: A PERIOD OF CLOUDY/WINDY CONDS. PATCHY LGT R SHOULD EVENTUALLY
MAKE IT TO THE GROUND...MAINLY FROM TRI-CITIES N AND E WITH THE BEST
CHANCE FROM GRI NE. COLD ARE COULD BECOME DEEP ENUF FOR A LITTLE
SLEET TO MIX IN BUT R WILL BE ENDING AS THIS OCCURS.

TEMPS ARE BIAS CORRECTED BLEND OF 2M TEMPS AND THE PREVIOUS GID
FCST. THIS IS NEAR OR SLGTLY ABOVE 12Z MOS DEPENDENT ON LOCATION.

WIND: THE PRES GRADIENT WILL TIGHTEN SUBSTANTIALLY OVER THE NEXT 3-6
HRS. PACKING OF ISOBARS IS IMPRESSIVE. ALL MESOSCALE MODELS /AND
EVEN SYNOPTIC MODELS/ HAVE A BURST OF NEAR WIND ADVISORY SUSTAINED
WINDS AND A COUPLE SPOTS COULD APPROACH ADVISORY GUSTS /45 MPH/.
WE/VE NOTED G32-37 KTS IN THE PAST COUPLE HRS OVER ERN WY/WRN SD.

6 HR PRES RISES ARE FCST UP TO 15 MB AND WHAT/S ESPECIALLY
CONCERNING IS A LARGE PORTION OF THE ISALLOBARIC WIND LINES UP
WITH SYNOPTIC WIND DIRECTION.

WIND GUSTS WERE CAPPED AT 35 KTS. THE GUST TOOL GAVE US G40 KTS. NOT
SAYING IT CANT HAPPEN BUT APPROACH IS CAUTIOUS FOR NOW.

THE STRONGEST WINDS SHOULDNT LAST MUCH MORE THAN 2-3 HRS AT ANY
ONE LOCATION.

NO ADVISORY ISSUED PER INTERNAL DISCUSSION DUE TO BREVITY OF THE
THREAT.

THX FOR COORDINATION GLD/DDC/ICT.

POPS/QPF ARE HEAVILY WEIGHT TOWARD THE SREF WITH INPUT FROM THE PAST
TWO CYCLES OF THE 4 KM NAM AND THE WRF FROM THE SD SCHOOL OF MINES
AND TECH /SDSMT/. YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED WE ARE USING MUCH HIGHER POPS
EVEN FOR LGT PCPN EVENTS. THIS IS PART OF OUR ENHANCED SHORT-TERM
FCST /ESTF/ EFFORT WHICH BECOMES OPERATIONAL TOMORROW.

MON: SOME HIGH CLOUDS WILL DRIFT THRU...ESPECIALLY S OF I-80...AS
THE CUT-OFF LOW /CURRENTLY APPROACHING CA/ HEADS INTO NV/UT.

THIS AIR MASS WILL BE 1 STANDARD DEVIATION BELOW NORMAL /IE
ABOUT 11F BELOW NORMAL/. USE BIAS CORRECTED 2M TEMPS INCLUSIVE OF
THE PREVIOUS GID FCST. THIS IS CLOSE TO MAV MOS. MET MOS IS A FEW
DEGS COOLER.

OVERALL FCST CONFIDENCE IS HIGH ON ALL ELEMENTS EXCEPT QPF. COULD
BE A LITTLE TOO HIGH. USED A BLEND OF THE PAST COUPLE RUNS OF NAM
AND GFS WHICH YIELDED JUST UNDER A TENTH E OF THE TRI-CITIES.

.LONG TERM...(MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)
ISSUED AT 414 PM CDT SUN MAR 31 2013

CHALLENGES INCLUDE CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION FOR MAINLY FRIDAY NIGHT
AND TEMPERATURES FOR THE WEEK.

THE BASIC SYNOPTIC PATTER WILL INCLUDE AN UPPER LEVEL SPIT FLOW
SCENARIO FOR THE WESTERN HALF OF THE UNITED STATES WITH A MID TO
UPPER LEVEL TROUGH/LOW MOVING FROM THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST INTO THE
SOUTHERN PLAINS MID-WEEK. LIFT WILL MAINLY BE SYNOPTIC AND WILL BE
RELATIVELY WEAK...FOCUSED SOUTH OF THE CWA. THE LONGWAVE TROUGH IN
THE EAST SHOULD BE FAR ENOUGH AWAY TO KEEP ITS INFLUENCE FOCUSED ON
THE EASTERN HALF OF THE UNITED STATES.

BY THURSDAY...THE UPPER/MID LEVEL TROUGH/LOW WILL CROSS OVER INTO
THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES AND WILL PHASE WITH THE NORTHERN
STREAM. MEANWHILE...FOR THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...A SHORTWAVE RIDGE
WILL BUILD IN WITH THE AXIS CROSSING THE CWA. A NEGATIVELY TILTED
SHORTWAVE TROUGH ON THE HEELS OF THE RIDGE COULD MAKE ITS WAY INTO
THE NORTHERN/CENTRAL PLAINS BY FRIDAY NIGHT...GIVING US A LOW CHANCE
OF SOME RAIN. MUCAPES INDICATE THAT WE WILL NOT LIKELY GET THUNDER
OUT OF THIS.

A PRETTY GOOD WARM-UP IS IN STORE FOR THE WEEKEND AS A LONGWAVE
TROUGH DIGS INTO THE WEST COAST REGION...PROVIDING HEIGHT RISES AND
WARMER WEATHER FOR THE HIGH/CENTRAL PLAINS. THE ENSEMBLE MEANS

KEPT SUNDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY DRY...FOLLOWING THE SLOWER SOLUTION
FROM THE ECMWF...ALTHOUGH THE GFS TRIES TO BRING SOME PRECIPITATION
FARTHER TO THE EAST BY SUNDAY. CONSIDERING THE AMPLIFYING AND
DIGGING NATURE OF THE LONGWAVE TO THE WEST...THIS CONVINCED ME TO
KEEP THE FORECAST DRY.

LOWERED TEMPERATURES ABOUT 5 DEGREES OR SO FROM THE ALLBLEND INIT
GRIDS ON SATURDAY...CONSIDERING THE ECMWF MOS ENSEMBLE NUMBERS AND
THE TRENDS FROM GFS MOS ENSEMBLES. STILL LOOKING SEASONABLY
MILD...HOWEVER. ALSO INCREASED SOUTH WIND FOR FRIDAY ALONG WITH
TEMPERATURES AS A SURFACE TROUGH APPROACHES.

THE GFS INDICATES A POSSIBILITY FOR SOME ELEVATED INSTABILITY ALONG
A THETA-E RIDGE AT 850 MB JUST BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THE LONG TERM
FORECAST FOR SUNDAY NIGHT...SO THIS MAY BE SOMETHING WE NEED TO KEEP
AN EYE ON.

&&

.AVIATION...(FOR THE 06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY NIGHT)
ISSUED AT 1226 AM CDT MON APR 1 2013

MVFR CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE AT KGRI THROUGH 09Z...WITH
VFR CONDITIONS THEN FORECAST THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE TAF
PERIOD.

STRATUS IS INFILTRATING THE AREA ON THE HEELS OF A LOW LEVEL
BAROCLINIC ZONE WHICH CLEARED THE TERMINAL A COUPLE HOURS AGO.
SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES THIS CLOUD COVER SHOULD DEPART KGRI TO
THE SOUTHWEST BY 09Z...THUS THE RETURN VFR CONDITIONS STARTING 09Z
IN THE TAF. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR IN CASE IT APPEARS STRATUS
WILL LINGER FOR ANOTHER HOUR OR TWO BEYOND 09Z...BUT AT THIS TIME
CONFIDENCE IS HIGH THAT VFR CONDITIONS WILL BE RESTORED BY 09Z.
THE SURFACE WIND WILL REMAIN FROM THE NORTH/NORTHEAST DURING THE
TAF PERIOD...GENERALLY RANGING BETWEEN 10KTS AND 16KTS. VISIBILITY
RESTRICTION IS NOT EXPECTED AT KGRI THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

&&

.CLIMATE...
ISSUED AT 414 PM CDT SUN MAR 31 2013

MARCH: BASED ON THE PROJECTED GRI AVG TEMP FOR TODAY...THE MONTHLY
AVG TEMP SHOULD COME OUT CLOSE TO 36.5F. THIS WILL GO DOWN AS THE
COLDEST MARCH SINCE 2002 WHEN THE AVG TEMP WAS 32.0. SINCE 1980
THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN 8 MARCH/S THAT WERE COLDER.

&&

.GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NE...NONE.
KS...NONE.
&&

SHORT TERM...HALBLAUB
LONG TERM...HEINLEIN
AVIATION...BRYANT
CLIMATE...HALBLAUB

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 31, 11:47 AM CST, 12 hours 13 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1247 PM CDT SUN MAR 31 2013

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-
011800-
PHILLIPS-SMITH-JEWELL-ROOKS-OSBORNE-MITCHELL-VALLEY-GREELEY-NANCE-
SHERMAN-HOWARD-MERRICK-POLK-DAWSON-BUFFALO-HALL-HAMILTON-YORK-
GOSPER-PHELPS-KEARNEY-ADAMS-CLAY-FILLMORE-FURNAS-HARLAN-FRANKLIN-
WEBSTER-NUCKOLLS-THAYER-
1247 PM CDT SUN MAR 31 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND
PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

A BRIEF BURST OF STRONG WINDS ARE LIKELY THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT
AS A POTENT COLD FRONT DROPS SOUTH ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA. WINDS
WILL ABRUPTLY SHIFT TO THE NORTHEAST...AND INCREASE TO 25 TO 30
MPH...WITH GUSTS OF 35 TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE. THIS BURST OF STRONG
WINDS WILL LAST ABOUT 2 OR 3 HOURS AT ANY ONE LOCATION. SOUTH
CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL BE AFFECTED BETWEEN 7 PM AND 1 AM...AND
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS BETWEEN 11 PM AND 4 AM.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT.

&&

MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE:
   HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS  (ALL LOWERCASE)

HALBLAUB

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

24 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Adams

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Adams forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.525, -98.501 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Buffalo

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Buffalo forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.855, -99.075 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Clay

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.524, -98.051 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Dawson

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Dawson forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.870, -99.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Fillmore

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Fillmore forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.525, -97.596 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Franklin

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Franklin forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.176, -98.953 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Furnas

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Furnas forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.177, -99.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Gosper

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Gosper forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.515, -99.831 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Greeley

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Greeley forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 41.567, -98.521 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hall

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hall forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.873, -98.502 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hamilton

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Hamilton forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.874, -98.023 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Harlan

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Harlan forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.177, -99.405 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Howard

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Howard forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 41.220, -98.517 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Kearney

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Kearney forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.507, -98.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Merrick

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Merrick forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 41.170, -98.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Nance

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Nance forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 41.397, -97.992 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Nuckolls

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Nuckolls forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.176, -98.047 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Phelps

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Phelps forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.511, -99.414 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Polk

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Polk forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 41.187, -97.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Sherman

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Sherman forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 41.221, -98.976 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Thayer

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Thayer forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.176, -97.595 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Valley

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 41.567, -98.982 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Webster

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Webster forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.176, -98.500 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, York

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: York forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 40.873, -97.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Nebraska in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Nebraska, April 2013

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 441374, 441375, 441376, 441377, 441378, 441379, 441380, 441381, 441382, 441383, 441384, 441385, 441386, 441387, 441388, 441389, 441390, 441391, 441393, 441394, 441395, 441397, 441398, 441401.