Drought in Nebraska, October 1 to 31, 2020

For the majority of the 24-county South Central Nebraska area, October marked at least the third-consecutive month of below normal precipitation. However, for a relatively-focused zone within the heart of the area this was actually the fifth-straight dry month. As a result, the U.S. Drought Monitor continued an areal-expansion of both D2 Severe and D1 Moderate Drought during October. Focusing first on the D2 situation: as October began, D2 was already assigned to portions of nine counties in the center of the area (including all/nearly all of Kearney and Adams). Then a week later, portions of eight more counties joined the mix, including a westward extension of the initial D2 area to include sizable portions of counties such as Dawson/Gosper, and also a completely separate area of D2 farther north that encompassed the vast majority of Valley, Greeley, Sherman and Howard counties. Later in the month, a southward expansion of the southern D2 area brought most of Furnas County into the fold, resulting in a total of 18 counties at least partially-assigned Severe Drought by the end of the month. More specifically, the geographic coverage of D2 in South Central Nebraska ballooned from 9 to 37 percent during October. Outside of the worst-off D2 area, both D1 Moderate Drought and D0 Abnormally Dry also increased in coverage, with D1 introduced to all/most of York and Fillmore counties and D0 expanding to include the remainder of Thayer/Nuckolls counties. In other words, the entire 24-county area was assigned some U.S. Drought Monitor category by month's end.

Taking a closer look at October precipitation, needless to say it was a notably-dry month: not only was the vast majority of the area below normal, but most of it tallied merely 10-50 percent of normal (normals generally 1.50-2.00). The overall-driest conditions concentrated near/south of Interstate 80, where NWS observer totals included a paltry 0.08 at Nelson, 0.11 eight miles south of Elwood (and also at Ravenna and Superior) and 0.12 at Red Cloud and Hebron. On the wetter side of things (but still below normal), parts of mainly far northern counties (such as Valley/Greeley) measured as much as 1.00-1.50, thanks mainly to early-season snowfall. Over the longer-term five-month period covering June-October, much of particularly the D2 areas only totaled 5-8 (generally 30-50% of normal). A few of the very driest NWS stations during this stretch included: Minden 5.08 (driest on record), Kearney airport 5.14 (3rd-driest), Hastings airport 5.87 (driest on record) and St. Paul 6.28 (3rd-driest). Temperature-wise, although October as a whole averaged 2-4 degrees F cooler-than-normal across South Central Nebraska (thanks mainly to a very cold late-month stretch), the first part of the month featured a blast of early-fall heat as highs in most places soared well into the 80s for a full week between the 5th-11th. Although no widespread/major drought impacts were noted locally during October, one indicator of the increasingly-dry conditions unfolded on the evening of the 11th as high winds prompted areas of blowing dust, greatly-reducing visibility and reportedly contributing to at least a few traffic accidents.