August 2015: Weather/Climate Review and Extremes for the NWS Hastings Coverage Area

°(Click on the links in the gray box below to quickly jump to sections located farther down the page)

* Please Note: All climate data presented here are preliminary and have not undergone final quality control by the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Therefore, these data are subject to revision. Final and certified climate data can be accessed at: WWW.NCDC.NOAA.GOV. 

 August 2015 Weather/Climate Web Stories

(Click HERE for archive to all web stories)

August 2015 Climate And Weather Review For South Central Nebraska
And Portions Of North Central Kansas

...Temperatures averaged 1.5 to 3° BELOW normal across most of the area...
...Rainfall was highly variable across the area, but at least a slight majority of locations received "near-normal" amounts between 2-4"...

The following narrative focuses on climate and weather highlights for the month of August 2015 across the NWS Hastings coverage area, encompassing 24 counties in south central and central Nebraska, and 6 counties in north central Kansas. Click here for a map of this coverage area. The temperature and precipitation data presented here are largely based on the NWS Cooperative Observer network, along with data from a handful of automated airport sites. All climate averages and "normals" presented here are based on the official NCDC 1981-2010 normals.

- TEMPERATURES...(According to 30-year averages, "normal" August high temperatures in South Central Nebraska gradually decrease from the upper-80s early in the month to the low-mid 80s by the end of the month, while highs in North Central Kansas gradually decrease from the low-90s to the upper-80s. August low temperatures across most of the 30-county area gradually decrease from the mid-60s early in the month to the upper-50s or low-60s by month's end...)

• Based on the monthly average temperature (resulting from averaging together the daily highs and lows), August was clearly a slightly-cooler than normal month, as most of the 30-county area averaged between 1.5 to 3.0° below normal, and the higher side of this range favoring much of the North Central Kansas area. As evidence of the slightly cooler than normal month, Hastings Municipal Airport only reached 90°-or-higher on four days, compared to the 30-year average of eight days. Farther south at Beloit KS, only two days exceeded 95°, compared to the long-term average of eight days.
   
• As can be seen in the temperature extremes listings below, most of the local area experienced its hottest day of the month on the 2nd, although some locations in KS also had rather hot days later in the month mainly on the 26th-27th. Meanwhile, most areas felt their coolest low temperatures on the morning of the 24th. Per NWS cooperative observers and automated airport sites, the hottest official high temperatures of the month within the 30-county area were 103° at Webster Dam KS on 27th, and 102° at Beaver City and Red Cloud on the 2nd. The coolest low temperatures of the month (on the 24th) featured 39° at Greeley.
   
• Among the official Nebraska Tri-Cities airport temperature stations (Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney):  the hottest August high temperature featured 96° at Grand Island on the 2nd, while the coolest low temperature consisted of 45° at both Grand Island and Hastings on the 24th. Please refer to this story for specific August 2015 details for the Tri-Cities along with Ord.

(Please look farther down the page for more information on August 2015 temperatures and extremes, including detailed breakdowns for Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney and Ord.)


- PRECIPITATION/FLOODING...(According to 30-year averages, "normal" August rainfall across the NWS Hastings coverage area is relatively uniform, with nearly all locations expected to receive between 2.75 - 3.50 inches...)

• Taking a broad overview of the 30-county area as a whole, at least a slight majority of locations received "near-normal" rainfall during August, meaning generally between 2-4". However, taking a closer look at things, rainfall was definitely NOT distributed very evenly across the area. Very generally speaking, there were two northeast-to-southeast oriented swaths of above normal rainfall totals, and one swath of noticeably drier than normal counties sandwiched in between. More specifically, one of these above normal swaths extended from western portions of South Central Nebraska (including portions of Furnas/Harlan/Gosper counties), then southeastward across parts of North Central Kansas (particularly Smith County). The other zone of above normal rain was concentrated within the far northeastern edges of the local area, including much of Nance, northeastern Merrick and northern Polk. Meanwhile, the heart of the drier than normal corridor generally extended from southern Valley County, southeastward through the Grand Island, Clay Center and Hebron areas. Meanwhile, a separate zone of particularly dry August weather targeted the extreme southwest corner of the local area, in southwestern Rooks County KS.
   
• Based on dozens of NWS Cooperative Observer reports and NeRAIN/CoCoRaHS reports, along with a few automated airport gauges, a few of the wettest monthly totals featured 8.63" seven miles north of Osceola, 7.08" seven miles north-northeast of Central City and 7.05" at Belgrade. Of course, localized pockets of the area likely received even higher August rainfall amounts, but there were no official rain gauge reports available to document them. On the much-drier side of things, a few of the paltriest official monthly totals featured merely 0.32" four miles west-northwest of Plainville KS and 0.96" at Webster Dam KS.
   
• Among the official Nebraska Tri-Cities airport precipitation stations, Kearney led the way with 2.47", followed by Hastings with 2.15" and Grand Island with only 1.24". Please refer to this story for specific August 2015 details for the Tri-Cities along with Ord.
   
• FLOODING: Although widespread, signifcant flooding (covering large portions of several counties) was not a major issue during the month, localized pockets of heavy rain resulted in at least THREE distinct episodes/areas of short-term flooding issues that generally persisted for 1-2 days and primarily impacted rural roads and low-lying areas:
  
   - From the afternoon of the 4th into the early morning of the 5th, a corridor of heavy rain of generally 2-5" (and possibly locally higher) targeted southern portions of the area, lagely concentrated several miles either side of a line from near Harlan County Lake, southeastward across Smith County KS and into western/southern Mitchell County. Early on in this event, a very localized area of heavy rain (unoffically up to around 5") fell over far southeastern Phillips County KS, resulting in flash flooding. As a result of this heavy rain event, the automated river gauge along the North Fork Solomon River near Portis rose into minor flood stage, cresting at 16.9' on the day of the 6th (flood stage 15.0').
  
  - Primarily during the afternoon hours on the 16th, a narrow corridor of heavy rain of generally 2-4" (and locally higher) fell over primarily northeastern Furnas and eastern Gosper counties. Areas in and near the town of Edison were particulary hard-hit with flooding, as the official NWS cooperative observer in town reported a storm total of 3.74", while an unofficial observer a few miles southwest of Edison reported around 5".
  
  - Over the course of roughly 30 hours, starting on the evening of the 16th and ending on the morning of the 18th, the cumulative affects of three separate rounds of heavy rain resulted in totals of generally 4-8" (and locally slightly higher) within much of the northern half of Polk County. An unofficial public gauge six miles south of Duncan tallied 8.50", and several rural roads were flooded in the area.

(Please look farther down the page for more information on August 2015 precipitation and extremes, including rankings of wettest and driest locations, percent-of-normal plots, and a detailed breakdown for Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney and Ord. In addition, the link on the far upper right of this page contains an archive of monthly/annual precipitation and snowfall totals for around 70 locations.)


- DROUGHT STATUS (see images at bottom of page)...

• Despite the rather dry conditions that dominated the majority of the local area during the final 2-3 weeks of the month, most counties spent the majority of the month with no drought classification whatsoever per the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor. Officially, the Sep. 1 Drought Monitor featured only small areas of Category D0 Abnormally Dry conditions (considered to be one category better than “true” drought) within parts of Hall and Adams counties in Nebraska and Rooks County in Kansas.
   

- SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS/HIGH WINDS (for all official/finalized storm reports please refer to NCDC Storm Data)...

• Overall, it was a fairly "average" month in terms of the number and coverage of severe thunderstorms across the 30-county area, and was not nearly as active as one year ago in August 2014 (see number-of-warnings comparison below).  The vast majority of severe storms occurred between the 4th-16th.
   
• There were NO confirmed tornaodes within the area during the month. The largest reported hail stone (golf ball size) occurred near Agra in Phillips County KS on the late-morning of the 6th. One of the highest measured wind gusts (68 MPH) occurred on the evening of the 8th at Osborne KS, with considerable tree damage and a few instances of structural damage reported within the community.

- Number of Severe Thunderstorm Warning polygons issued by NWS Hastings in August 2015: 24 (67 fewer than August 2014)
- Number of Tornado Warning polygons issued by NWS Hastings in August 2015: 1 (Same as August 2014) 
- Number of confirmed tornadoes within the NWS Hastings coverage area in August 2015: 0 (Same as August 2014)

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Click on the link below for August 2015 climate summaries specifically for Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney and Ord
 

Grand Island - Hastings - Kearney - Ord

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Various graphs and tables depicting August 2015 climate data for
South Central Nebraska and North Central Kansas:

* Please Note: These data are preliminary and have not undergone final quality control by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Therefore, these data are subject to revision. Final and certified climate data can be accessed at WWW.NCDC.NOAA.GOV

Click Image For Larger Version

Grand Island Temperature Summary: Observed daily maximum and minimum temperatures are connected by blue bars. Area between normal maximum and minimum temperatures is shaded green. Red bars connect record high temperatures. Blue bars connect record low temperatures.	Hastings Temperature Summary: Observed daily maximum and minimum temperatures are connected by blue bars. Area between normal maximum and minimum temperatures is shaded green. Red bars connect record high temperatures. Blue bars connect record low temperatures.

Grand Island Precipitation Summary: Green line indicates cumulative observed precipitation for August 2015. Brown line indicates "normal" August precipitation based on 30-year data from 1981-2010.	Hastings Precipitation Summary: Green line indicates cumulative observed precipitation for August 2015. Brown line indicates "normal" August precipitation based on 30-year data from 1981-2010.

 Most of the following images depicting August 2015 Precipitation and Temperatures are courtesy of the High Plains Regional Climate Center:

* Please note: These maps are a "best-approximation" of actual measured values, and data reflected on these maps may not exactly match actual values due to the effects of interpolation and "smoothing" used to create the maps. In addition, some "bullseyes" may be a result of missing data.

Click Images For Larger Version

Nebraska: August 2015 Measured Precipitation (Inches)	Kansas: August 2015 Measured Precipitation (Inches)
Nebraska: August 2015 Percent of Normal Measured Precip.	Kansas: August 2015 Percent of Normal Measured Precip.
NWS Hastings Area: August 2015 Total "Observed" Precipitation Based On AHPS Precipitation Analysis Including Radar Data
	While the precipitation images above are based strictly on gauge-measured data, this image on the left utilizes an "Observed" multisensor approach created by River Forecast Centers. Hourly precipitation estimates from WSR-88D NEXRAD radar are compared to ground rainfall gauge reports, and a bias (correction factor) is calculated and applied to the radar field. For much more information on these types of images, and to create your own precipitation maps, please visit the following site: https://water.weather.gov/precip/
Nebraska: August 2015  Temperature Departure  from Normal (F)	Kansas: August 2015 Temperature Departure  from Normal (F)

The following drought category images, current as of September 1, 2015, are courtesy of the
U.S. Drought Monitor (see narrative above for more details):

Click Images For Larger Version

Nebraska - U.S. Drought Monitor as of September 1, 2015	Kansas - U.S. Drought Monitor as of September 1, 2015

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For more climate related information, check out the following websites:

This page was composed by the staff at the National Weather Service in Hastings, Nebraska.