National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Unsettled Weather in the West; Wintry Mix and Ice Accumulation Possible in Iowa and Vicinity

Significant low elevation rain and higher elevation snow is expected across central California and the Pacific Northwest into the Rockies through the weekend. A wintry mix and some ice accumulation will impact portions of the Central Plains through the Upper Midwest through Saturday. Widespread rain is forecast across the Southern Plains into the Mid-Mississippi and Ohio valleys this weekend. Read More >

 

2021 Temperature/Precipitation Extremes
NWS Hastings 30-County Coverage Area


(data mainly from NWS Cooperative Observers & CocCoRaHs/NeRAIN observers)

(*Please Note: All data presented here are preliminary and subject to revision. Final and certified climate data is available through National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). 


Nebraska Tri-Cities Extremes and Totals (Grand Island, Hastings, and Kearney airports):
(note: Grand Island/Hastings data are from NWS-maintained automated airport sensors (ASOS), except for snowfall which is manually measured. At Kearney, all official data is from the NWS Coop Observer located at the airport, as the automated airport sensor (AWOS) is unofficial.)

  • Hottest temperature:              106...Grand Island  (June 17)       
                                                        
    103...Hastings  (June 17)   
                                                        102...Kearney  (June 17)   

     
  • Coldest temperature:            -30...Hastings  (Feb 16...tied with Jan. 12, 1912 for THE COLDEST TEMP ON RECORD IN HASTINGS!)     
                                                       
    -28...Kearney  (Feb. 15)...tied with other dates for the 2ND-COLDEST TEMP ON RECORD IN KEARNEY)
                                                       -27...Grand Island  (Feb. 16)...5th-COLDEST TEMP ON RECORD IN GRAND ISLAND)

                                               
  • Highest daily rainfall:          4.13"...Kearney  (24-hour total ending 7am March 14)      
                                                     
    2.87"...Hastings  (March 13)     
                                                     
    2.75"...Grand Island  (March 14)

                                            
  • Wettest calendar month:    8.65"...Grand Island (March)      all 3 sites had their WETTEST MARCH ON RECORD!)
                                                      
    8.16"...Hastings (March)   
                                                      7.55
    "...Kearney (March)  
                                                   
  • Driest calendar month:        0.10"...Hastings (December)
                                                       
    0.22"...Kearney (December)
                                                       
    0.34"...Grand Island (December)

     
  • Snowiest calendar month:   15.2"...Hastings (February)
                                                       
    13.4"...Grand Island (February)
                                                       12.0
    "...Kearney (February)

     
  • Highest 48-hour snowfall:    10.4"...Grand Island  (Jan. 25-26)
                                                          9.3
    "...Hastings  (Jan. 25-26)
                                                         7.0
    "...Kearney  (Jan. 25-26)

     
  • Annual 2021 precipitation:     
    - Grand Island:  28.59"   (1.98" ABOVE normal...35th-wettest year on record out of 126) 
    - Hastings:          28.06"   (1.66"  ABOVE normal...43rd-wettest year on record out of 127...a notable 11.32" MORE than what fell in 2020!)
    - Kearney:           26.20"   (0.64" ABOVE normal...44th-wettest year on record out of 126...a notable 8.90" MORE than what fell in 2020!)

     

 Extremes Across our ENTIRE 30-County Area: 

 Hottest Temperatures  (actual day it occurred...not necessarily the date of the official ob)

  • 109...Webster Dam KS (June 17, Aug. 24) 
  • 107...Cambridge (June 17)
  • 106...Grand Island airport (June 17)
  • 105...Plainville KS 4WNW (June 17) -  Beaver City (June 17) - Edison (June 17) - Smith Center KS (June 17) - Kirwin Dam KS (Aug. 24) - Hebron (June 17) - Geneva (June 16-17)
     

 Coldest Temperatures  (actual day it occurred...not necessarily the date of the official ob)

  • -34...Ord airport (Feb 15) - Greeley (Feb 15) - Genoa 2W (Feb 15) - York 3N (Feb 16)
  • -33...Superior (Feb 16) - Hebron (Feb 16) 
  •  -32...Lexington airport (Feb 15)
  •  -31...Beaver City (Feb 15) - Oxford 6NNW (Feb 15) - North Loup (Feb 16) - Aurora airport (Feb 16) - Osceola (Feb 16)
     

 Highest 2021 TOTAL Precipitation     ("normal" annual precip across our area generally ranges 23-30"...lowest west/highest east)

  • 36.10"...Osceola 
  • 36.05"...Shelby 3NE
  • 35.63"...Franklin 2ENE
  • 34.91"...Orleans 5NW
  • 34.62"...Franklin (in town)
  • 33.82"...Stromsburg      
  • 32.98"...Holdrege                                     
  • 32.46"...Aurora 1ESE
  • 32.24"...Benedict 4W
  • 32.18"...Holdrege 4ESE
     

 Lowest 2021 TOTAL Precipitation   (only includes stations with no more than 5 days of missing data)

  • 20.57"...Lexington 1E
  • 20.74...Palmer 9NE
  • 20.95"...Logan KS
  • 21.68"...Hunter KS 2NNW
  • 21.69"...Wilsonville
  • 22.14"...Arapahoe
  • 22.16"...Ord airport
  • 22.58"...Beloit KS
  • 22.65"...Lexington 6SSE (Canaday Steam Plant)
  • 22.76"...Ravenna
     

 Wettest Calendar Month   (it was EXTREMELY UNUSUAL that this entire Top-10 list occurred in MARCH!)

  • 10.02"...Benedict 4W (March)
  •  9.74"...Glenvil 2WSW (March)
  •  9.55"...Marquette 1SE (March)
  •  9.54"...Hastings 2WNW (March)
  •  9.39"...Grand Island 2W (March)
  •  9.32"...Doniphan 4ENE (March)
  •  9.27"...Bradshaw 6N (March)
  •  9.17"...Ayr 4NE (March)
  •  9.16"...Dannebrog 3ESE (March)
  •  9.11"...Doniphan 2W (March)
     

 Highest 24-HOUR Rain Totals  (for a roughly 7am-7am period ending on the specified date)

  • 6.22"...Orleans 6WNW (Aug. 23)
  • 6.16"...Orleans 5NW (Aug. 23)
  • 5.47"...Glenvil 2WSW (March 14)
  • 5.43"...Wood River (March 14)
  • 5.42"...Doniphan 4ENE (March 14)
  • 5.32"...Bradshaw 6N (March 14)
  • 5.14"...Marquette 1SE (March 14)
  • 5.13"...Bladen 4SW (March 14)
  • 5.12"...Hastings 2WNW (March 14)
  • 5.08"...Doniphan 2W (March 14)
     

 Snowiest Calendar Month

  • 19.4"...Tobias 2WSW (February)
  • 18.7"...Hebron (February)
  • 18.6"...Lexington 6SW (February)
  • 17.0"...Bradshaw 6N  (February)
  • 16.5"...Bladen 4SW (February) - Doniphan (February)
  • 16.3"...Lovewell Dam KS (January)
  • 15.5"...Holdrege 1E (January) - Gresham 3W (January)
  • 15.2"...Hastings NWS Office (Feb.) - Shelby 3NE (February)
     

 Highest 48-Hour (or less) Snowfall 

  • 15.5"...Lovewell Dam KS (Jan 26-27)
  • 15.0"...Milligan 4NW  (Jan 26) 
  • 14.0"...Holdrege 1E (Jan 25-26) - Superior 8NW (Jan 26-27) - York 1ENE (Jan 25-26)
  • 13.8"...Stromsburg 1E (Jan 25-26)
  • 13.5"...Gresham 3W (Jan 25-26) - Hastings 2SSW (Jan 25-26)
  • 13.2"...Webber KS 3ENE (Jan 26-27)
  • 13.0"...Hunter KS 2NNW (Jan 26-27) - Superior 7NE (Jan 26-27) - Davenport 6SE (Jan 26-27) - Bradshaw 6N (Jan 26-27)

Please visit the following sites for a wealth of additional local climate information:
NOWData....official temp/precip/snow data for any NWS observation site in our coverage area
Daily/Monthly/Annual Precipitation Maps (maintained by NWS Hastings) 
24 to 72 hour Observed Snowfall Maps (maintained by NWS Hastings)
- NWS Hastings Local Climate Page (various additional weather/climate info) 
High Plains Regional Climate Center (HPRCC)...information for the entire High Plains region (not just our coverage area)

page updated/finalized 2-5-22