With continued dry conditions in September, severe and extreme drought conditions expanded across the eastern Nebraska Panhandle and portions of the western Sandhills and southwestern Nebraska in September. Extreme drought conditions expanded into the western third of Garden and extreme southwestern portions of Sheridan and extreme northwestern portions of Deuel county by the end of September.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS LBF wrote it up.
With continued dry conditions in September, severe and extreme drought conditions expanded across the eastern Nebraska Panhandle and portions of the western Sandhills and southwestern Nebraska in September. Extreme drought conditions expanded into the western third of Garden and extreme southwestern portions of Sheridan and extreme northwestern portions of Deuel county by the end of September. East of this area to a line from Gordon, to Arthur, to North Platte and Maywood, severe drought conditions had developed by the end of month.
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 North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 10:57 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service North Platte NE 1157 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday night) Issued at 356 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020 The main forecast challenges through midweek revolve around precipitation chances and temperatures. A mid-level shortwave may be responsible for scattered rain showers tonight, while highs rebound from today's cooldown. This evening and tonight... An upper trough digs into the northern Plains as a closed low begins to develop on the western slope of the Rockies. The axis of the main shortwave traverses the forecast area late tonight into early Tuesday morning, indicative of enhanced frontogenesis at H5-7 and notable isentropic upglide (mainly centered around 305K). Water vapor and infrared analysis show a broad area of moisture streaming east from the Rockies, which is forecast to overspread western Nebraska tonight. CAMS have been trending more aggressive with rain showers with this system, albeit on the lighter side. Thunder indices are essentially nil with MUCAPE values under 100j/kg and H5-7 lapse rates around 6C/km. Forecast soundings suggest remnant dry air in the lowest 200mb, which should cut into the overall potential for measureable precip. Dew points bottomed out in the mid 30s this afternoon and should only return to the mid 40s overnight with the help of southerly return flow. Overall, the lack of sufficient surface forcing and primarily dry air in the low levels should lead to a lot of the initial moisture should evaporating. Temperature-wise, went with the warmer end of guidance for min temps to account for increasing cloud cover and weak WAA. Lows should range from the upper 40s along the Pine Ridge to lower 50s elsewhere. Tuesday... The surface high pressure that kept conditions clear for Monday drifts east. Southerly flow at H85 transitions to westerly and picks up a downslope component as temps approach 20C again in the west. Depending when the morning rain showers depart and clouds clear, highs should reach the lower 80s. Good agreement exists among the model suite with rapid drying aloft through midday and very low lapse rates, which should keep any afternoon precip chances at a minimum. Negligible advection occurs overnight, so expect similar lows around 50F. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Monday) Issued at 356 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020 Wednesday and beyond... The upper trough over the Rockies quickly scoots east and becomes replaced by a building 596dm ridge. Nebraska lies on the periphery of the ridge through the weekend. A couple big temperature swings occur, which are mainly based around surface cool front passages. Summer conditions return Wednesday with highs around 90F and again Saturday. With little moisture hanging around, this presents additional fire weather concerns. The next chance of appreciable moisture comes Sunday with that second cold front. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 1157 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020 Skies will be mostly cloudy across western and north central Nebraska overnight with some broken clouds ranging from 10000 to 12000 FT AGL. Some isolated showers will be possible at the KLBF terminal through daybreak Tuesday. Look for skies to clear out by midday Tuesday. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 356 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020 Near critical fire weather conditions for Zone 204 on Wednesday and Saturday in the afternoon. On Wednesday, western Nebraska have strong downslope winds from the northwest and west, which will promote warm and dry air in the region. At the same time, southerly flow will also draw warm air into Nebraska. As temperatures rise and the air dries out, RH values will be in the mid-teens by the afternoon. Surface temperatures will be in the low 90s and winds will be out of the southwest at 10 to 15 miles per hour with gusts exceeding 20 miles per hour. The setup is similar on Saturday, but will lack any strong downslope winds. Precipitation is possible in southwest and western Nebraska late this evening, but it is expected to be light. There are minimal chances for precipitation through the remainder of the forecast period after today. Skies will be clear on both Wednesday and Saturday, which will help dry out the fuels and raise air temperatures. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && SHORT TERM...Snively LONG TERM...Snively AVIATION...Buttler FIRE WEATHER...Meltzer
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service North Platte NE 327 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-012030- Sheridan-Eastern Cherry-Keya Paha-Boyd-Brown-Rock-Holt-Garden- Grant-Hooker-Thomas-Blaine-Loup-Garfield-Wheeler-Arthur-McPherson- Logan-Custer-Deuel-Keith-Perkins-Lincoln-Chase-Hayes-Frontier- Western Cherry- 327 PM CDT Mon Aug 31 2020 /227 PM MDT Mon Aug 31 2020/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of western and north central Nebraska. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. No hazardous weather is expected today or tonight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. Near critical fire weather concerns are expected on Wednesday afternoon and Saturday afternoon for portions of western Nebraska due to low relative humidity values and gusty winds. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed through tonight. && Get your weather, hydrological, and climate information at http://www.weather.gov/northplatte
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
During the month of September, severe drought (D2) conditions, expanded into most of Hayes County. During the month of September, the cooperative station at Hayes Center reported 0.61 inches of rainfall. This was 1.04 inches below the normal of 1.65 inches.
During the month of September, severe drought (D2) conditions, expanded into southwestern and west central portions of Lincoln county. For September, the cooperative station at Hershey 5SSE reported 0.90 inches of rainfall. This was 0.62 inches below the normal of 1.52 inches. The cooperative station at Wallace 2W reported 0.70 inches of rain which was 0.90 inches below the normal of 1.60 inches. At the North Platte Airport, 0.59 inches of precipitation fell in September, which was 0.82 inches below the normal of 1.41 inches.
During the month of September, severe drought (D2) conditions, expanded to all of Sheridan County. In addition, locations in extreme southwestern Sheridan county were experiencing extreme drought (D3) conditions by the end of September. The cooperative station at Gordon 6N reported 0.71 inches of rainfall for the month. This was 0.92 inches below the normal of 1.63 inches. The cooperative station at Ellsworth 2W reported 0.60 inches of rain which was 1.00 inches below the normal of 1.60 inches.
During the month of September, severe drought (D2) conditions, expanded to all of Garden County. In addition, locations in the western third of the county were experiencing extreme drought (D3) conditions by the end of September. The cooperative station at Lisco reported 0.39 inches of rainfall for the month. This was 1.29 inches below the normal of 1.67 inches. The cooperative station at Oshkosh reported 0.48 inches of rain which was 1.13 inches below the normal of 1.61 inches. At Crescent Lakes NWR, 0.48 inches of precipitation fell for the month. This was 1.20 inches below the normal of 1.68 inches.
During the month of September, severe drought (D2) conditions, expanded to all of Deuel County. In addition, locations in extreme northwestern Deuel county were experiencing extreme drought (D3) conditions by the end of September.
During the month of September, severe drought (D2) conditions, expanded into southwestern Grant county.
During the month of September, severe drought (D2) conditions, expanded into the western half of Arthur County. The cooperative station in Arthur reported 1.03 inches of precipitation in September. This was 0.81 inches below the normal of 1.84 inches.
During the month of September, severe drought (D2) conditions expanded into all of Keith County. The cooperative station at Kingsley dam reported 0.97 inches of precipitation for September. This was 0.74 inches below the normal of 1.71 inches. The cooperative station at Ogallala reported 0.69 inches of precipitation which was 0.85 inches below the normal of 1.54 inches.
During the month of September, severe drought (D2) conditions, expanded into all of Perkins County.
During the month of September, severe drought (D2) conditions, expanded into most of Chase County. The cooperative station at Imperial reported 0.66 inches of precipitation. This was 0.75 inches below the normal of 1.41 inches.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, September 2020
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: 920385, 920386, 920309, 920312, 920316, 920319, 920320, 920322, 920383, 920384.